Feb. 24, 1999

Right from the start, one thing was clear: Northern State was not going to lose. The Wolves simply were not going to allow Winona State to derail the drive for five straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference titles and a trip to the post-season. Not at home. Not tonight.

The Wolves overwhelmed the Warriors 99-79 before 6,000 fans, locking up a berth in the North Central Regional March 4-6 by virtue of tiebreaker. Both teams finished 10-2 in conference play. The seedings and host site for the North Central Regional will be announced Sunday.

The Wolves hit their first seven 3-pointers to blow the game open early and were never threatened. NSU finished an unheard of 18-for-22 from downtown -- an 82 percent clip. Yeah, that's a school record. NSU also finished just one trey shy of tying a school record for team 3-pointers in a game. Sophomore guard Jared Miller (Mitchell, S.D.) was 8-of-10 from behind the arc and finished with 29 points. He also ended with a career-high nine assists to go with six rebounds.

There was no letdown after NSU went into halftime ahead 48-33. The Wolves led by as many as 30 points in the second half.

Junior guard Scott Hanson (Tolna, N.D.) was 5-of-5 from 3-point land, finishing with 23 points. Sophomore post Ben Dahl (Cottonwood, Minn.) added 14 and senior forward Mark Rich (Aberdeen, S.D.) 11 to round out NSU's double-digit performers. Rich and fellow senior forward Kyle Johnson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) played their last game in Wachs Arena. Fittingly, Johnson went out as chairman of the boards, grabbing a game-high eight rebounds to go with seven points and four assists.