APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team went from triumph to heartbreak in 24 hours.
The Vikings posted a stirring 86-79 comeback overtime victory Friday against Sul Ross State University in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Championship, but the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point dashed the Vikings' dream of a trip to the Final Four with its own 82-81 overtime win on Saturday.
Lawrence finished with the finest season in more than 100 years of basketball at the school. The Vikings went 24-5 and became the first school in Midwest Conference history to advance to the Elite 8.
Lawrence, champions of the MWC, traveled to the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., for the sectional and faced Sul Ross State from Alpine, Texas, in the Sweet 16 game.
The Vikings trailed by 18 points at 61-43 with 11:55 left before Kyle MacGillis took over. The sophomore forward from Wauwatosa scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half. He also finished with eight rebounds and four steals.
MacGillis was a tornado on defense and kept finding ways to hit shots or make free throws. He was 9 of 10 from the free-throw line, and his all-out defensive effort sparked the rest of the team.
The Vikings began chipping away at the Lobos' lead, and Aaron Sorenson's 3-pointer with 4:27 left gave Lawrence a 68-66 lead, its first advantage since the 2:34 mark of the first half. The Lobos pushed the lead back to 74-70, but Sorenson's jumper with 1:06 left cut that margin in half. After a missed 3-pointer by the Lobos, Chris Braier went to the basket and was fouled with 15 seconds remaining. He hit both free throws to force the overtime.
Chris MacGillis hit a 3-pointer to give Lawrence a 77-76 lead in the overtime and the Vikings didn't look back. Kyle MacGillis drained a jumper, and Jason Holinbeck hit another jumper to put Lawrence up 82-77 with 55 seconds left.
The Lobos were forced to foul, and the Vikings made 4 of 6 free throws in the final 36 seconds to seal the win.
Holinbeck finished with a team-high 16 points for Lawrence. Braier added 13 points and 18 rebounds, and Sorenson chipped in with a critical 12 points, including 10 in the second half.
After UW-Stevens Point downed the host school, Puget Sound, 100-79 in other Sweet 16 game, it was an all-Wisconsin sectional final.
The Elite 8 game took on a bit of a surreal feel. With so much at stake, these two Wisconsin teams were playing nearly 2,000 miles from home, but in front of a crowd of less than 250, dominated by Lawrence fans, inside mammoth Memorial Fieldhouse.
The fans who came weren't disappointed, as the game became an instant classic with nine ties and 23 lead changes.
Lawrence dominated most of the first half, but the Pointers hung in and trailed 40-39 at the break. The teams swapped the lead in the second half, and Lawrence led 72-69 on Dan Evans' jumper with 17 seconds left. The Pointers forced the overtime when Nick Bennett hit a long 3-pointer with 9 seconds left, with a Lawrence defender draped on him.
It was more of the same in the overtime, and Braier hit a pair of free throws with 46 seconds left to put the Vikings up 79-78. Jason Kalsow countered with a jumper that gave Stevens Point the lead with 31 ticks remaining. It was Braier again for Lawrence, and his layup put the Vikings up 81-80 with only 20 seconds left.
Eric Maus then hit the shot of his life for the Pointers. Bennett found Maus alone on the baseline, and his 12-foot jumper put the Pointers ahead 82-81. Without a timeout, Evans raced up the court for the Vikings and found Holinbeck on the right wing for an open 3-pointer, but the shot came up inches shot and caromed off the iron.
Chris MacGillis led Lawrence with 22 points, and Holinbeck and Braier had 18 points apiece. Holinbeck was fantastic from the floor, hitting 6 of 8 shots, all 3-pointers, including a 4-for-4 effort from beyond the arc in the first half. Evans finished with 10 points.
While the season ended in disappointment for Lawrence, it was a spectacular campaign. The Vikings set the record for most wins in a season with 24, and Lawrence won its second conference title in eight seasons. Lawrence was ranked as high as 10th nationally and advanced deeper into the NCAA tournament than any team in Midwest Conference history.