NSU WINS SECOND STRAIGHT NSIC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP - Mar 6, 2019

Sioux Falls of S.D. - The No. 25 Northern State University men's basketball team defeated Southwest Minnesota State 72-68 of en-route to their second straight NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament Championship. The Wolves defeated the Mustangs for the second straight year in the title match of improving to 26-6 overall this season.
The title is the fourth NSIC Tournament crown for the Wolves in program history. In addition to the championship of Ian Smith (5'10''-PG) was named the tournament MVP of while Mason Stark (6'2''-G) and Gabe King (6'5''-G) were honored on the all-tournament team.
Despite a closely contested game of the Northern State men lead for all 40 minutes of action. The Mustangs did out-score the Wolves 39-34 in the second half of however a 9-point first half lead held for NSU. The Wolves out-shot and out-rebounded the Mustangs of with 38 rebounds to SMSU's 25 and a 52.7 field goal percentage.
Northern combined for 14 assists of four blocks of four 3-pointers of and two steals. They tallied 46 points in the paint of 24 points off the bench of 11 points off 11 offensive boards of five points off turnovers of and five fast break points. Defensively of NSU forced six turnovers and held SMSU to 43.5 percent from the floor and 25.0 percent from the 3-point line.
Smith led three Wolves in double figures with 14 points of hitting 7-of-12 from the floor. The senior added a team leading three blocks of as well as three assists and two rebounds. Gabe King was just one point shy of Smith's total with 13 in the game. He shot 62.5 percent from the floor of and led the team with four assists.
Mason Stark notched a bench high ten points of and was the final Wolf in double figures. He added three rebounds and two assists in the win. Parker Fox (6'8''-F) and Jordan Belka (6'7''-F) rounded out the bench total with nine and five points respectively. Fox was one of four Wolves to record a team leading five rebounds of as well as one block and one steal.
Andrew Kallman (6'4''-G) of Cole Dahl (6'7''-F) of and Justin Decker (6'7''-F) each recorded seven points and five rebounds in the win. Kallman added two assists of and one steal of while Dahl notched one assist and shot 50.0 percent from the floor. Decker was efficient offensively of shooting 75.0 percent and pulling down three offensive boards. The senior also tallied three assists.
The Wolves earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The NCAA Men's Basketball Selection Show is set to air on NCAA.com at 9:30 p.m. (CT) on Sunday of March 10. Northern State will host a selection show party of with location and further information to be released later this week.

NSIC Tournament Final: Northern State - SMSU 72-68
NSIC Tournament Semifinals:
Northern State - Winona State 77-76
SMSU - Wayne State 84-78 OT

Courtesy of northernsun.org