St. Thomas senior Michael Hannon (5) drives to the basket past Carson Long (14) and Kyler Gregory (24) of Guilford during first half action of the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 Friday in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. (Kat Barrett/TommieMedia)
OSHKOSH, Wisconsin – Kyler Gregory scored 25 points to lead unranked Guilford College 80-73 over No. 13 St. Thomas in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Friday at Kolf Fieldhouse.
Guilford will play No. 4 Wisconsin-Oshkosh at Kolf for a chance to advance to the Final Four in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Oshkosh defeated Loras (Iowa) in the second game, 86-75.
Senior Michael Hannon, in his final game, led St. Thomas (24-5) with 28 points. First-year Anders Nelson added 13.
The Tommies led, 39-30, at halftime behind 17 from Hannon. Guilford (24-7) took the lead at 14:52 remaining on a three-point play by Gregory, 45-42 and the game was back-and-forth until the final couple of minutes, when the Quakers pulled away.
St. Thomas was making its fifth Sweet 16 appearance in 11 years, its first since the national championship season in 2016. It also won a national championship in 2011.
Guilford was making its third appearance in the Sweet 16, the first since 2010. It won the NAIA national championship in 1973.
Alex Panos can be reached at pana8391@stthomas.edu.