| March 12, 2006 | 1st |
2nd |
Final |
Record |
| (3) #15 Northern State | 27-5 | |||
| (2) #8 Fort Hays State | 27-4 |
Northern State Advances to Regional Finals
Winona, Minn. – No. 15 Northern State (27-5) pulled off a mild upset as they put an end to No. 8 Fort Hays State’s (27-4) season with a 60-58 win in the semifinals of the NCAA North Central Regional. Northern State, the three seed, advances to the NCAA Regional Finals on Tuesday, March 14 th at 7:00 p.m. in Winona, Minn. against the winner of the No. 5 Winona State and No. 14 Minnesota State game.
Northern State opened the game taking a 7-5 lead after seven straight points from Matt Hammer (Sr., F, Elkton, S.D.). Fort Hays answered with a 9-1 run to take a 16-10 lead with 10:50 remaining in the first half. The Wolves went nearly six minutes without a basket before Luke Wicks (R-So., F, Gillette, Wyo.) drilled a three-pointer to make it a 16-13 ballgame.
Hammer finished the game with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Hammer now moves to #13 all-time in scoring at NSU with 1,668 points. Hammer surpassed Gary Nygaard (1961-64) and is two points from passing Keith Moore (1986-90) for twelfth all-time.
Adam Grant (Sr., F, Berthold, N.D.) had another solid game as he scored 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-6 from three point range and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Grant and Hammer both finished with five rebounds.
Fort Hays State extended their lead back to seven at 27-20 with 4:30 to go before the Wolves closed out the half on an 8-0 run to give them the 28-27 halftime lead.
The Tigers were only 3-of-14 from three point range in the first half and went to the free throw line only twice (2-of-2).
The Wolves continued their 8-0 run, and extended it to 14-0 with 17:45 left. Derrick Turner hit a shot with 16:55 left, marking the first field goal for the Tigers in over seven and a half minutes dating back to the first half.
The Wolves led by ten, 52-42, with 10:29 to go in the game before the Tigers mounted an 11-0 run over a five minute span to take their first lead since 1:48 remaining in the first half, 53-52. The Wolves answered right back, as Aaron Busack (Sr., C, Redwood Falls, Minn.) scored his only field goal of the game to put the Wolves back up for good. Busack finished the game 1-of-6 from the field and 5-of-8 from the free throw line for seven points.
The Wolves continued to extend their lead to six, 59-53 with 2:55 left. After a pair of Fort Hays State free-throws, Busack hit one of two to put the Wolves back up five, 60-55 with 1:05 to go. Fort Hays State answered with a quick three pointer by Maurice Hansen to make it a two point game with 40 seconds left. For Hansen, it was his only basket of the game (1-of-5, all threes).
The Wolves were unable to score as Busack’s lay-up with 28 seconds left was blocked by Derrick Turner, leaving the Tigers with the ball, down two with 27 seconds.
After a Tigers timeout Tyrone Shepard’s close-range jumper was blocked by Busack and rebounded by Shepard for FHSU. A last second desperation three with two seconds left was rebounded by Derrick Turner, but he landed out-of-bounds with .4 seconds left. The Wolves’ inbounds pass was intercepted by FHSU, but time expired before the Tigers could get a shot off.
The block by Aaron Busack with eight seconds left was only his twelfth of the year.
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Northern State University (located in Aberdeen, SD) is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
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