ATLANTA — With Loyola clinging to a one-point lead and only 6.3 seconds remaining, Marques Townes sank a 3-pointer from in front of the Ramblers bench to continue their improbable NCAA tournament run.

Townes scored 18 points to lead Loyola to a 69-68 victory over Nevada on Thursday night in the first South Region semifinal.

“I think Marcus Townes is the best player on the court tonight,” Ramblers guard Clayton Custer said. “I don’t even think it was close.

“This is unbelievable. (It) feels like a dream.”

The win leaves the No. 11th-seeded Ramblers one victory from a Final Four appearance. Not bad for a program that hadn’t been in the Sweet 16 in 33 years.

Loyola (31-5) will face No. 9 seed Kansas State in Saturday’s regional final.

Caleb Martin scored 21 points for Nevada (29-8), which erased a 10-point deficit to tie the game at 59-59 on Cody Martin’s layup with 4:06 left. The Wolf Pack rallied despite Loyola shooting 75 percent in the second half.

Kansas St. 61, Kentucky 58: Barry Brown’s tiebreaking layup with 19 seconds remaining was the difference as No. 9 seed Kansas State sprung the upset.

Kansas State (25-11) overcame the loss of top scorer Xavier Sneed, who had 22 points before fouling out with 1:14 left.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer for No. 5 seed Kentucky (26-11).