Cool
as ice senior Craig Coenen (Kaukauna, Wis.) nailed three free throws in the
final eight seconds to seal a conference championship. The St. Cloud State men's
basketball team fought down to the wire with rival Minnesota State today (Mar.
8) and made the plays down the stretch to earn a 91-89 victory and the title of
champions at the 2009 NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament.
Taylor Witt (6'2''-G-88)(Morris, Minn.) tied a career high with 30 points,
and along with a 29 point performance in the semifinals was named tournament
MVP.
Matt Schneck (6'7''-C-88) (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) recorded his third
double-double of the three-game tournament and joined Witt on the All-Tournament
Team.
The win is the sixth straight for St. Cloud State (22-8), but did not come easy.
A three-point play by Witt pushed the Huskies lead to its largetst of the game
at 12 at 80-68 with just under five minutes to go, but by the 1:01 mark of the
second half a Minnesota State (25-8) three courtesy of
Jadee
Jones (6'2''-G-86) brought MSU to within one at 84-83.
Down the stretch in the final minute, the Huskies hit 9-of-11 free throw
attempts, and needed every one of them as the Mavericks hit their shots to stay
within three. Holding a three-point lead as the clock ticked below the 10 second
mark, the Mavericks
Marcus Hill (5'9''-G) brought the ball up court. Hill had already nailed
both of his three-point attempts in the game, and the Huskies did not want him
to get to 3-for-3.
Josh
Ortmann (6'3''-G-89) (Buffalo, Minn.) fouled Hill, sending him to the line
where he made both free throws, but SCSU still got the ball with a one-point
lead.
After taking the inbounds pass, Coenen was fouled and made both free throws to
regain a three-point lead, and the Huskies led 90-87 with seven seconds to go.
On the next possession, the Maverick's
Jadee
Jones missed both of his free throws with Coenen grabbing the rebound off
the second. After a foul he went to the line where he made one-of-two to stretch
the lead to four at 91-87 and seal the win with only three seconds to go.
MSU made one final jumper at the buzzer for the final 91-89 margin. The Huskies
entered the tournament as the third seed with the Mavericks as the fourth seed
after each team tied for third place in the final NSIC regular season standings.
Of Witt's 30 points, 18 came in the second half as he hit big shot after big
shot to propel his team to victory. On the boards, Schneck pulled down a career
high 17, including seven on the offensive end. The Huskies held a 40-35
advantage on the boards, and it seemed that every time the Huskies needed a big
rebound, Schneck was there to pull it down.
Schneck added 16 points to his effort on the boards and Ortmann finished as the
final Husky in double figures with 14 points. Ortmann went 7-of-9 from the free
throw line including some big shots from the stripe down the stretch.
In a rise to the occasion type game, the Huskies did just that, hitting 18-of-21
free throws in the pivotal second half and limiting their turnovers to just 10
for the entire game.
The win is makes the Huskies the first SCSU men's team to win a NSIC tournament
championship, and makes St. Cloud State University just the second institution
in the 10-year history of the NSIC basketball tournament to hold both men's and
women's titles in the same season. The SCSU women began the season sweep when
they beat Concordia in their title game earlier in the day. In 2002-03 the
University of Minnesota Duluth was the first.
The Huskies win their third conference tournament title, but their first since
the 2002-03 season. In the 2005-06 season, SCSU last appeared in a conference
tournament championship, losing to none-other than Minnesota State. Current
Huskies, Coenen and Spencer Bartz (Hinckley, Minn.) were freshmen on that team.
Courtesy of stcloudstate
Tournament Final: St. Cloud State - Minnesota State 91-89 Tournament Semifinals: St. Cloud State - Winona State 91-77
Minnesota State - Northern State 88-85
NSIC Player of the Year:Kevin
Ratzsch of Northern State University NSIC Defensive Player of the Year:Ryan
Krome (5'10''-G-86) of SMSU NSIC Freshman of the Year:Cody
Schilling (6'5''-G) of Augustana College NSIC Newcomer of the Year:Travis
Nelson of Minnesota State University NSIC Coach of the Year:Greg
Stemen of Southwest Minnesota State University
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Schlagel
Cool
as ice senior Craig Coenen (Kaukauna, Wis.) nailed three free throws in the
final eight seconds to seal a conference championship. The St. Cloud State men's
basketball team fought down to the wire with rival Minnesota State today (Mar.
8) and made the plays down the stretch to earn a 91-89 victory and the title of
champions at the 2009 NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament. 
