BOX SCORE
ABERDEEN, S.D. – In a bitter fight to the end, the Northern State Wolves and Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs battled for position in an important NSIC matchup. The Wolves pulled off the 71-69 win in the final seconds of the game with a layup from Levi Hamilton and a defensive stop at the buzzer. The win marked the 20th victory of the season for the Wolves, who are now 20-2 overall and 11-2 in the league. Southwest is 13-9 overall and 8-5 in the NSIC.
It was a battle of offenses as the Wolves and Mustangs matched bucket for bucket throughout the game, with most of the makes coming in the paint for both teams. Both squads were shooting in the mid-60's for the first ten minutes of play. The Mustangs claimed the initial lead of the game, 19-13 at the 13 minute mark. The Wolves made a set of stops to narrow the margin, with their first three-pointer of the game tightening the score to 23-22 at the 9:30 mark.
Northern's defense held Southwest to just one field goal over the next few minutes, with the Mustangs turning the ball over four times and giving NSU the chance to take back the lead. They rattled off eight points to go up 31-25. The Mustangs came back to within a point, although a buzzer-beating Kevin Ratzsch jumper put the Wolves up 37-34 at the half.
Levi Hamilton dumped in NSU's first four field goals of the second half to propel the Wolves to a 45-38 lead. Then it was Southwest's turn to make the defensive stops, forcing turnovers and grabbing Northern misses. They moved their shots further from the basket and found success, with a Matt Fletcher three-pointer tying the game 45-45 with 15 minutes to play.
Neither team was able to find a comfortable scoring gap and the lead changed hands for the remainder of the half. Northern went up 61-58 following jumpers from Ratzsch and Luke Wicks at the six minute mark as Wachs Arena grew progressively louder. A Taylor Huseby layup and Matt Fletcher jumper swapped the lead once again, 62-61 in favor of Southwest with four minutes to play.
Going down to the wire, Northern hit key field goals while the Mustangs made their game from the free throw line. Hamilton put the Wolves up 69-68 a with three point play at the one minute mark. Southwest's Fletcher had an opportunity to put his team up with a set of free throws, but he hit just one to tie the game at 69-69. Wicks found Hamilton below the basket and a kiss off the glass gave the Wolves the final lead, 71-69 with 12 seconds remaining. The Mustangs got off one final shot attempt, an Andrews three-pointer that hushed the crowd of 3,554 as they waited anxiously to see if the shot would fall. The ball hit the back iron and was pulled down by Nelson as the clock expired.
Normally a three-point shooting team, the Wolves made adjustments for the tough Mustang defense. They went to the paint and shorter range jumpers for the majority of the game. Ratzsch topped all players with 25 points and seven rebounds. He also had three assists, two blocks and two steals. Hamilton was on his heels with 24 points and three blocks. He shot 11-of-14 from the field. The Wolves hit 58.5% of their field goals and kept the turnover mark to just nine.
Southwest Minnesota State received 21 points and four rebounds from Kevin Andrews. Ross DeMasi added 12 points and five rebounds, four of which came off the offensive glass. Matt Fletcher dropped in 15 points. The Mustangs also shot well from the field with a mark of 51.0%. They stayed in contention with a big night from the free throw line, sinking 13 of 14 attempts. SMSU had a slight 26-23 rebounding edge in a game that featured few misses.
Northern is on the road next weekend, playing at MSU Moorhead on Friday evening and Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday. There will be a fan bus heading to Moorhead for Friday's game. Call Jackie Witlock at the NSU Foundation to register.
