The No. 3-ranked St. Thomas men’s basketball team took an unexpected early exit from the MIAC playoffs Thursday night.

Led by Jeremy Sutherland’s 20 point performance, fourth-seeded Carleton upset the first-seeded Tommies 73-67 in the MIAC semi-finals at Concordia’s Gangelhoff Center.

St. Thomas got off to a rough start as senior Joe Scott and juniors Tyler Nicolai and junior Alex Healy were held to a combined 2-12 from the field in the first half.

The Tommies spent the entire second half trailing the Knights as St. Thomas lost its first game at the Gangelhoff Center this season. The defeat was also St. Thomas’ first in 55-straight conference games.

Scott finished with 15 points and Nicolai and Healy both chipped in 12 points.

Carleton’s Seth Jonker scored 19 points and Carter Biewen tallied 11 as the Knights shot 60 percent from the field.

The Tommies now await Monday’s NCAA playoff pairings announcement but St. Thomas is likely to receive one of 19 at-large berths.

Brian Woitte can be reached at bmwoitte@stthomas.edu