North Dakota Wins Back-to-Back GWC Tournament Championships with Win Over NJIT - Mar 10, 2012

North Dakota won its second straight GWC Basketball Tournament championship Saturday with a 75-60 win over NJIT at Chicago, Ill. The Fighting Sioux will move on to represent the Great West in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
NJIT got out to an early 11-3 lead to start the game, before North Dakota answered and tied the score at 17-17 with 7:32 remaining in the first half. The Sioux took their first lead of the game with 6:39 left in the first frame on a jumper by Brandon Brekke (6'8''-C) and NJIT went back on top by two, 23-21, at the 3:35 mark on a layup by Lamar Kearse (6'2''-G-92). The Highlanders held onto the lead for the rest of the half and took a 29-27 lead into the locker room at the break.
In the second period, Patrick Mitchell (6'8''-F), last year's tournament MVP, hit a 3-pointer in the first minute to put the Sioux up, 30-29, beginning a 22-7 run to the 12:05 mark to put UND up by 13.
NJIT answered with a 20-6 run of its own to cut UND's lead to two, 49-47, with 8:23 remaining in the game but it was the closest the Highlanders would get as the Sioux built to their largest lead of 21, 73-52, with 2:13 left.
The Highlanders, who were playing their third game in three days, shot 39 percent (22-57) from the field, including only 18 percent (3-17) from 3-point range. NJIT was the tournament's fourth seed, edging Houston Baptist 65-64 in Thursday's first round before upsetting top-seed and GWC champion Utah Valley, 88-78, in overtime Friday, a game in which the Highlanders hit 52 percent (11-21) from long range.
North Dakota shot 40 percent (20-50) from the field and 41 percent (7-17) from beyond the arc.
GWC Player of the Year Isaiah Wilkerson (6'3''-G-90) led NJIT with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Chris Flores (6'2''-G-90), an All-GWC second-team honoree, scored 15. Wilkerson and Flores were named to the All-Tournament team.
The Sioux had five players in double figures and were led by second-team all-conference selection Troy Huff (6'4''-G) with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Mitchell, a second-team All-GWC honoree scored 12 points, GWC honorable mention selection Jamal Webb (6'1''-G) added 11 points and seven rebounds on his way to MVP honors, and Josh Schuler (6'2''-G) also added 11 points, while Brekke contributed 10 points.

Courtesy of GWC

GWC Tournament Final: North Dakota - NJIT 75-60
GWC Tournament Semifinals:
NJIT - Utah Valley 88-78 OT
North Dakota - UTPA 63-59

All-GWC 1st Team 2011-2012
#s#	Wilkerson	Maree	Provost	Robinson	Williams	#e#5