Season Wrapup

Northern State men’s basketball finished off one of their most successful seasons in the past decade as they posted a 27-6 record after advancing the to NCAA North Central Region Championship game. The 27 wins marks the most for Head Coach Don Meyer since coming to NSU in 1999-00 and the most for the program since the 1996-97 season when the Wolves went 30-6.

Of the Wolves six losses this season, four were to eventual NCAA DII National Champions of Winona State, who advanced to the Elite Eight after defeating the Wolves 96-86 in the regional finals. The Wolves other two losses were by six points or less.

The Wolves lose four instrumental players to graduation this season, three who have been with the team the last four years; Aaron Busack (C, Redwood Falls, Minn.), Adam Grant (F, Berthold, N.D.), and Matt Hammer (F, Elkton, S.D). These three seniors combined for 4,436 points, 92 wins and three regional tournament appearances in their careers. Hammer finishes his career 11th all-time in scoring at NSU with 1,686 points. Busack finished 15th all-time at NSU with 1,643 while Grant finished 32nd all-time with 1,107 career points. This also marks the end of Bjoern Schoo’s (Sr., C, Germany) career at Northern after scoring 410 points in just two years of play.

Hammer and Busack were named to the NSIC All-Tournament team for an unprecedented third consecutive season. Hammer and Grant were named to the North Central All-Region team for their outstanding play in the regional.

Hammer was one of the most recognized players in the region, if not nation this season. Hammer was featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd, was named to the NABC 1st Team All-Region, the Daktronics Inc. 2nd Team All-Region, the NSIC 1st Team All-Conference, was the NSIC Player of the Week twice and was one of two players from the North Central Regional named to the inaugural 2006 NCAA DII/NABC DII All-Star game, which was held in conjunction with the NCAA DII Men’s Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass. Hammer scored ten points in the game.

The Wolves started off one of their best seasons since 1994-95 when they went 9-0. The Wolves started 8-0 after they ended Northwest Missouri State’s 47 game home non-conference win streak by knocking off the Bearcats 79-69 at Bearcat Arena back on December 4th. The Wolves unfortunately let their next game slip away as they lost at Minnesota-Duluth 84-78 to end their eight game winning streak; their longest of the season.

The Wolves won their next six straight to improve to 14-1 and receive a #1 ranking in the North Central region and a #5 spot in the NABC national rankings.

The Wolves would drop to 14-2 and 4-1 in the NSIC after a 92-78 loss at Winona State. This would drop them to third in the region, where they would remain for the rest of the season.

The Wolves would embark on another six game win streak, with key wins coming against Concordia St. Paul, 77-70, the night after Winona State and then coming from behind to beat MSU Moorhead 84-77 in overtime at the Barnett Center.

The rematch with Winona State was slated for February 11th with Northern State coming in with a 16-game home winning streak and Winona State boasting an eight-game win streak of their own. The Barnett Center was packed with 6,721 cheering fans as the 12 th ranked Wolves battled the 13th ranked Warriors. The Wolves found themselves in a hole early as they were down 19-10 six minutes into the game. The Wolves embarked on a 7-0 run over 1:22 to make it a 26-28 game with six minutes left in the first half. But as they did all night, the Warriors hit big shots to kill Wolves rallies, one coming on a David Zellmann three pointer late in the first half. Zellman, the NSIC Player of the Year, had five threes in the game and finished with 20 points.

The Warriors started the second half on a 12-4 run to open up a 55-42 lead. The Wolves again went on a run, this time a 5-0 run to make it a four point game at 64-60. But the Warriors countered with a 6-0 run of their own to go back up ten with eight minutes to go. The Wolves would get it down to three with five minutes to go, and four with just over a minute, but they were unable hit the baskets at the end.

The Wolves finished the regular season losing only once more, that at Bemidji State, 55-58, in a game that could have gone either way. The Wolves 11-3 NSIC record was good enough for second place behind Winona’s 13-1 mark.

The Wolves knocked off Concordia St. Paul 73-59 in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. The Wolves then got revenge on Bemidji State by ending their season with a 71-58 win in the semifinals. The win over Bemidji State marked the Wolves eighth consecutive win in the NSIC Tournament, tying Minnesota-Duluth for the record for consecutive wins.

The Wolves looked to be the first team ever to win three consecutive NSIC Tournament Championships, but once again, Winona State stood in their way. The Warriors extend their winning streak to 16 games as the knocked off the Wolves 93-80, ending any hopes of the three-peat.

The Wolves season was not over though, as they were ranked third going into the NCAA North Central Regional. The winner of the regional would advance to the Elite 8 in Springfield, Mass. The Wolves drew Metropolitan State College of Denver in the first round. The Roadrunners ended the Wolves season last year as they won the regional out in Denver. This time it was the Wolves turn as they knocked off the Roadrunners 72-67 as the Wolves won their first regional game since 1998 and the first under Meyer’s leadership. Aaron Busack tied a season high with 25 points in the win.

The Wolves next draw was Fort Hays State of Kansas, a team that was ranked #1 in the nation two weeks prior to the regional. The Wolves continued their dominance over Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams as they held on for a 60-58 win. Hammer scored 17 points for the second consecutive game, while Adam Grant scored 15 points in the upset win over the second seeded Tigers.

The Wolves had a chance to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1998, but their nemesis Winona State once again stood in their way. Winona State made the regional finals after coming from behind against South Dakota and Minnesota State Mankato. As in the first three meetings, the Warriors were just too much for the Wolves. After trailing by five at halftime, the Wolves pulled within two with 17 minutes left, but Winona State answered with a 13-0 run to put the game out of reach. The Wolves continued to battled but ended up losing 96-86 in the end. The fight and determination in the final game, shows great promise for the Wolves in the future as 11 underclassmen, including Craig Nelson (R-So., G, Mayville, N.D.), Kyle Schwan (R-So., G, Aberdeen, S.D.) and LukeWicks (R-So., F, Gillette, Wyo.), who all played solid in the postseason, will return as leaders next season.