Wolves Picked To Finish Second In Preseason Poll
October 24, 2006
ST. PAUL, Minn. - In a release put out today by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference office, the Northern State men's basketball team was favored to finish second in the league in 2006-07. Reigning NCAA Division II National Champion Winona State was unanimously voted to finish first in the NSIC.
Northern State is coming off of one of their most successful seasons in recent history. The Wolves finished the 2005-06 season at second place in the NSIC with an 11-3 league mark and an overall record of 27-6. But with a national champion in the league, they were unable to pull off an upset in the games that counted. Four of Northern's six season losses came at the hands of Winona State, including losses in the championship games of both the NSIC Tournament and the North Central Regional.
Northern returns three starters and ten letterwinners to this year's roster, including junior guard Craig Nelson. Nelson was picked as a preseason player to watch after making his first appearance on the NSIC All-Conference team as a red-shirt sophomore. In the 14-game NSIC season, Nelson was second in free throw percentage (.906, 29-of-32), sixth in three-point percentage (.452, 28-of-62), 14th in assists (2.21), and 24th in scoring (8.9). In Nelson's two years at Northern State, he has started in all 54 games he has played in. His career free throw percentage is .871 (115-of-132) and his three-point percentage is .441 (75-of-170).
2006 NSIC Coaches Preseason Poll
1. Winona State (9) 90
2. Northern State 77
3. Southwest Minn. State 73
4. Wayne State (Neb) (1) 71
5. Concordia-St. Paul 51
6. MSU Moorhead 50
7. Bemidji State 41
8. University of Mary (ND) 35
9. Upper Iowa 27
10.MN-Crookston 25
( ) First Place Votes
2005-06 NSIC Final Standings
NSIC O'All
Team Record Record
1. Winona State 13-1 32-4
2. Northern State 11-3 27-6
3. Bemidji State 9-5 15-13
t4. Southwest MN St. 6-8 15-14
t4. Wayne State 6-8 8-17
t6. Concordia-St. Paul 5-9 16-12
t6. MSU Moorhead 5-9 16-12
8. MN-Crookston 1-13 4-24
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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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