Northern State University (NSU) Athletics

2006-07 Season Wrap Up

April 10 , 2007
The Northern State men’s basketball team finished the season with a record of 21-8. This marks the sixth season in a row that the Wolves have surpassed the 20-win mark. The team finished tied with Concordia-St. Paul for third in the league with a 13-5 mark, but edged out the Golden Bears for the higher position with a stronger strength of schedule. The Wolves’ season ended in the semi-finals of the NSIC Red Baron Men’s Basketball Classic when they were defeated by Southwest Minnesota State 82-63 in Winona, Minn.

The Wolves opened the 2006-07 season by winning their first four games, which included a set of wins against North Central Conference opponents. The Wolves defeated the Augustana Vikings on November 18th, 2006 72-70 behind Kevin Ratzsch’s career high 32 points. They also defeated the University Of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D. in a thrilling 88-84 overtime victory. To end the month of November, the Wolves saw some stiff competition as they hosted the annual Super 8 Bob Wachs Classic. They played two ranked teams in #18 Northwest Missouri State and #15 Nebraska-Kearney and dropped both games by scores of 60-88 and 73-84 respectively, but gained valuable experience and a strength of schedule that would serve them well in the future.

Northern’s schedule did not get any easier as they opened NSIC play and faced #1 Winona State in Winona, Minn. on December 1, 2006. With the Warriors shooting 55.7 percent from the field, NSU lost it’s first conference game of the season 62-90, but would bounce back to take a 77-71 victory over Upper Iowa the following night. The Wolves went on to win five of their next six battles, including three wins over the holiday break against NAIA opponents. They shot a season high 65.9 percent from the field in an 82-66 win over Wayne State in their NSIC home opener on December 8, the highest single game team shooting percentage for NSU in more than eight years.

Northern State was 10-5 overall and 3-3 in the NSIC after an 81-60 victory over MSU Moorhead on January 5th and a 58-76 loss to Concordia St. Paul on January 6th. From there, the Wolves finished the season on a hot streak, going 11-3 overall and 10-2 in the NSIC. This run would include a six game winning streak to end the conference season. In the mix of these games were two amazing opportunities for the NSU Wolves to play games broadcast live on television. The first-ever televised NSU men’s basketball game was on January 20 as the Wolves hosted the University of Mary. The Wolves claimed a 60-57 win in the game that was broadcast on KSFY and KFYR. Wachs Arena was even more lively the following weekend as the NCAA and CSTV came to produce a nationally broadcast game between the Wolves and #1-ranked Winona State. 6,213 fans packed into the gymnasium for the 11:00 am game on January 27, which was also broadcast regionally on Fox Sports Net North. Northern stuck with the defending national champions for the majority of the game and led 63-62 with 6:19 left to play, but the Warriors pulled out the stops and went on a 14-3 run before claiming the 76-66 win.

Northern finished the season as the #3 seed in the NSIC Men’s Red Baron Basketball Classic after winning the tiebreak with Concordia-St. Paul. The Wolves found themselves hosting the #6 seed MSU Moorhead in the first round of the classic. Northern State defeated the Dragons 68-62 in Aberdeen, SD, taking the scoring edge after hitting ten three-point shots to MSUM’s four. The win advanced the Wolves to the semi-finals of the conference tournament were they faced #2 SW Minnesota State. The Mustangs defeated the Wolves twice during the regular season and this game would find them defeating the Wolves for the third time 82-63 in Winona, Minn.

On March 1st, 2007 the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced their 2006-07 postseason awards, which were voted on by the league coaches. Northern State University’s Kevin Ratzsch was named to the NSIC All-Conference First Team, Craig Nelson was named to the second team and Levi Hamilton was named to the third team. This was the second year in a row that the Wolves placed three on the All-Conference Teams.

Kevin Ratzsch led the conference in scoring during the regular season, averaging 18.6 points per game. Ratzsch scored in double figures in every game during the season and posted 20+ points on fourteen occasions. Ratzsch finished the season at second in the NSIC in three point field goal percentage, hitting 51.7% (61/118) of his shots from long range. Ratzsch also led the team in rebounding with an average of 6.2 rebounds per game. Levi Hamilton was Northern State’s 3rd highest scorer and 2nd highest rebounder with 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Craig Nelson was the team’s second highest score with 14.4 points per game and shot 44.0% (95/216) from long range, leading the Wolves in three-pointers made. He averaged 3.52 three point field goals made per game, which ranked him second in the conference. Dan DeWitt ended the season with 108 assists on the season, which led the team.

As a team, the Wolves averaged 74.0 points per game while only giving up 68.1 points per game. NSU shot 48.7% (771/1584) from the field and 42.7% (241/565) from long range, the highest shooting figures for an NSU team in more than 15 years. The 2006-07 squad will lose just one player, senior John Curtis Carr, and will return the rest of the team for a hopeful 2007-08 season.

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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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