Northern Sun men's basketball tournament

Northern Sun men's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championship
SportBasketball
ConferenceNorthern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
Number of teams8
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumSanford Pentagon
Current locationSioux Falls, SD
Played2000–present
Current championMinnesota State (3rd)
Most championshipsNorthern State (SD) (6)
Official websiteNSIC Men's Basketball
Host stadiums
Sanford Pentagon (2014–present)
Taylor Arena (2012–2013)
Gangelhoff Center (2000–2004, 2011)
Halenbeck Hall (2010)
McCown Gymnasium (2005–2009)
Host locations
Sioux Falls, SD (2014–present)
Rochester, MN (2012–2013)
St. Paul, MN (2000–2004, 2011)
St. Cloud, MN (2010)
Winona, MN (2005–2009)

The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual men's conference basketball championship tournament for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The tournament has been held annually since 2000. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records.[1]

The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship.

Tournament format

Between its establishment in 2000 and 2012, the tournament featured only the top 8 teams from the conference, with all eight teams active from the quarterfinal round.

After 2013, however, the tournament expanded to 16 teams, with teams seeded based on their performance in either the North or South Division of the Northern Sun. The first round, which features all sixteen teams, pairs the top-seeded teams from the North and South Divisions against the eighth-seeded team from the opposite division. In turn, the second-seeded team from each of these teams' brackets comes from the opposite division (i.e. the top-seeded team from the North would ideally oppose the second-seeded team from the South and vice versa for the other division's top team). This pattern continues for the third- and fourth-seeded teams.

In all instances of the tournament, the semifinal and final rounds have been played at a pre-determined venue, which has also hosted the quarterfinal round since 2012. From 2000 to 2011, these sites were the on-campus gymnasium of Northern Sun teams. Since 2012, however, these have been neutral-site arenas not home to any Northern Sun programs.

Results

Year Champions Score Runner-up MVP Venue
2000 Wayne State (NE) 72–60 Minnesota–Duluth Brad Joens, Wayne State Gangelhoff Center (St. Paul, MN)
2001 Winona State 94–78 Southwest State Kyle Schlaak, Winona State Gangelhoff Center (St. Paul, MN)
2002 Minnesota–Duluth 59–57 Southwest State Jason Schneeweis, Minnesota–Duluth Gangelhoff Center (St. Paul, MN)
2003 Minnesota–Duluth 71–66 Minnesota State–Moorhead Dusty Decker, Minnesota–Duluth Gangelhoff Center (St. Paul, MN)
2004 Northern State (SD) 63–58 Minnesota–Duluth Steve Smiley, Northern State Gangelhoff Center (St. Paul, MN)
2005 Northern State (SD) 73–69 Winona State Matt Hammer, Northern State McCown Gymnasium (Winona, MN)
2006 Winona State 93–80 Northern State (SD) David Zellman, Winona State McCown Gymnasium (Winona, MN)
2007 Winona State 80–70 Southwest Minnesota State John Smith, Winona State McCown Gymnasium (Winona, MN)
2008 Winona State 73–40 Northern State (SD) John Smith, Winona State McCown Gymnasium (Winona, MN)
2009 St. Cloud State 91–89 Minnesota State Taylor Witt, St. Cloud State McCown Gymnasium (Winona, MN)
2010 St. Cloud State 68–67 Southwest Minnesota State Matt Schneck, St. Cloud State Halenbeck Hall (St. Cloud, MN)
2011 Winona State 58–41 St. Cloud State Ben Fischer, Winona State Gangelhoff Center (St. Paul, MN)
2012 Southwest Minnesota State 76–72 Minnesota State–Moorhead Lavione West, Southwest Minnesota State Taylor Arena (Rochester, MN)
2013 Minnesota State 73–68 Bemidji State Jarvis Williams, Minnesota State Taylor Arena (Rochester, MN)
2014 Minnesota State 75–66 Winona State Zach Monaghan, Minnesota State Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2015 Augustana (SD) 98–82 Minnesota State–Moorhead Casey Schilling, Augustana Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2016 Augustana (SD) 89-76 Minnesota State-Moorhead Casey Schilling, Augustana Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2017 Southwest Minnesota State 71–58 Upper Iowa Ryan Bruggeman, Southwest Minnesota State Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2018 Northern State 81–75 Southwest Minnesota State DJ Pollard, Northern State Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2019 Northern State 72-68 Southwest Minnesota State Ian Smith, Northern State Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2020 Northern State 80–59 Minnesota State Parker Fox, Northern State Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2021 Northern State 78–57 Minnesota State–Moorhead Mason Stark, Northern State Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2022 Minnesota State–Moorhead 81–73 Minnesota–Duluth Gavin Baumgartner, MSU–Moorhead Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2023 Minnesota State–Moorhead 79–69 Minnesota–Duluth Jacob Beeninga, MSU–Moorhead Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
2024 Minnesota State 97–77 Minnesota–Duluth Malik Willingham, Minnesota State

Championship appearances by school

School Finals Record Finals Appearances Years
Northern State (SD) 6–2 8 2004, 2005, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Winona State 5–2 7 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011
Minnesota State 3–2 5 2013, 2014, 2024
Southwest Minnesota State 2–6 8 2012, 2017
Minnesota State–Moorhead 2–5 7 2022, 2023
Minnesota–Duluth 2–5 7 2002, 2003
St. Cloud State 2–1 3 2009, 2010
Augustana (SD) 2–0 2 2015, 2016
Wayne State (NE) 1–0 1 2000
Upper Iowa 0–1 1
Bemidji State 0–1 1

References

  1. ^ "Northern Sun Men's Basketball Tournament History" (PDF). Year-by-year records. NSIC. 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.