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Mar. 8—SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Before UND junior forward George Natsvlishvili hit a free throw with 0.1 seconds left to beat St. Thomas 67-66 in the Summit League tournament semifinals late Saturday night, he was thinking about Spain.
The native of Tbilisi, Georgia, spent much of his junior career playing for Pajarraco CB Feliuenc in the Spain's LEB Silver League before becoming a Fighting Hawk.
Natsvlishvili went to the stripe in a championship game during his time in Spain with the chance to clinch the win. He missed both.
While the semifinal rock fight wound down at the Denny Sanford Premier Center, Natsvlishvili went to the free-throw line with a chance to give the Hawks a lead with 1 minute, 39 seconds remaining. He airballed the first attempt, and the second clanked off the front iron.
Senior guard Eli King gave him a shot at redemption. King stole the ball from St. Thomas redshirt sophomore guard Austin Herro with seconds remaining and passed the ball to Natsvlishvili, who was fouled on the layup attempt with less than a second to go.
When Natsvlishvili stepped up to clinch the win, his mind returned to Spain.
"I was getting to the free-throw line, and I thought about that moment," Natsvlishvili said. "I said, 'I'm not gonna let that happen again. Either it's this, or we're going home.' I looked at my coaches, my teammates, and they were believing me. I just cleared my mind right before I released the ball."
Natsvlishvili helped UND secure its first appearance in the Summit League championship since 2020.
The Hawks will take on North Dakota State for the third time this season tomorrow at 8 p.m. with a bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
"It's going to be awesome," redshirt freshman Greyson Uelmen said. "I know all of us are so excited to play in this game. It's going to be one of the coolest games of our lives, and a game we'll remember forever, so we've got to take advantage of it for sure."
Uelmen, who scored 41 points in UND's dominant quarterfinal win over Denver, led the charge again.
He scored 28 points, 19 of which came in the second half.
St. Thomas went into halftime with a 34-28 lead and led by as many as seven points early in the second half. Uelmen hit a triple to draw the Hawks within three, and King splashed one of his own on the ensuing possession to tie things up at 54-54 with 7 minutes, 15 seconds to go.
Uelmen gave UND its first lead of the half minutes later with a pair of free throws.
"I have so much trust for my teammates and my coaches," Uelmen said. "They let me make plays, especially in the second half. They let me do my thing, get downhill, try to facilitate for others as well."
St. Thomas built its lead late in the first half thanks in large part to a dominant showing on the boards. The Tommies grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and had 13 more field-goal attempts through the first 20 minutes.
Still, St. Thomas was held to 35.1% from the field, which kept the Hawks close.
"We had to keep ourselves in it," head coach Paul Sather said. "I think that was the most important thing. And we talked about that at halftime, we've given them 13 more shots and we're only down six. That's not normal when you give a team 13 more possessions, basically."
The Tommies had just two offensive boards in the first half. They shot an improved 52.2% in the second half, but UND seemed to have an answer for everything.
The game was tied seven times in the final 7 minutes, 15 seconds. Whether it was a 3-point shot from senior guard Reggie Thomas, a handful of free throws from King or a layup from Uelmen, the Hawks managed to counterpunch at every turn.
"As the game went on in the second half, Greyson started doing his thing and guys started making plays," Sather said. "Different guys at different times with the defensive stuff. We started getting more stops and we kept making it hard for them throughout. And guys made plays."
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The native of Tbilisi, Georgia, spent much of his junior career playing for Pajarraco CB Feliuenc in the Spain's LEB Silver League before becoming a Fighting Hawk.
Natsvlishvili went to the stripe in a championship game during his time in Spain with the chance to clinch the win. He missed both.
While the semifinal rock fight wound down at the Denny Sanford Premier Center, Natsvlishvili went to the free-throw line with a chance to give the Hawks a lead with 1 minute, 39 seconds remaining. He airballed the first attempt, and the second clanked off the front iron.
Senior guard Eli King gave him a shot at redemption. King stole the ball from St. Thomas redshirt sophomore guard Austin Herro with seconds remaining and passed the ball to Natsvlishvili, who was fouled on the layup attempt with less than a second to go.
When Natsvlishvili stepped up to clinch the win, his mind returned to Spain.
"I was getting to the free-throw line, and I thought about that moment," Natsvlishvili said. "I said, 'I'm not gonna let that happen again. Either it's this, or we're going home.' I looked at my coaches, my teammates, and they were believing me. I just cleared my mind right before I released the ball."
Natsvlishvili helped UND secure its first appearance in the Summit League championship since 2020.
The Hawks will take on North Dakota State for the third time this season tomorrow at 8 p.m. with a bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
"It's going to be awesome," redshirt freshman Greyson Uelmen said. "I know all of us are so excited to play in this game. It's going to be one of the coolest games of our lives, and a game we'll remember forever, so we've got to take advantage of it for sure."
Uelmen, who scored 41 points in UND's dominant quarterfinal win over Denver, led the charge again.
He scored 28 points, 19 of which came in the second half.
St. Thomas went into halftime with a 34-28 lead and led by as many as seven points early in the second half. Uelmen hit a triple to draw the Hawks within three, and King splashed one of his own on the ensuing possession to tie things up at 54-54 with 7 minutes, 15 seconds to go.
Uelmen gave UND its first lead of the half minutes later with a pair of free throws.
"I have so much trust for my teammates and my coaches," Uelmen said. "They let me make plays, especially in the second half. They let me do my thing, get downhill, try to facilitate for others as well."
St. Thomas built its lead late in the first half thanks in large part to a dominant showing on the boards. The Tommies grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and had 13 more field-goal attempts through the first 20 minutes.
Still, St. Thomas was held to 35.1% from the field, which kept the Hawks close.
"We had to keep ourselves in it," head coach Paul Sather said. "I think that was the most important thing. And we talked about that at halftime, we've given them 13 more shots and we're only down six. That's not normal when you give a team 13 more possessions, basically."
The Tommies had just two offensive boards in the first half. They shot an improved 52.2% in the second half, but UND seemed to have an answer for everything.
The game was tied seven times in the final 7 minutes, 15 seconds. Whether it was a 3-point shot from senior guard Reggie Thomas, a handful of free throws from King or a layup from Uelmen, the Hawks managed to counterpunch at every turn.
"As the game went on in the second half, Greyson started doing his thing and guys started making plays," Sather said. "Different guys at different times with the defensive stuff. We started getting more stops and we kept making it hard for them throughout. And guys made plays."
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