Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Everyone knew this game was going to be a dogfight.  The Northern State University Wolves were fighting for their playoff lives, while the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs, winners of 15 straight and the hottest team in the NCAA Central Region, were fighting for the right to host the remainder of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament.

In the end, the night belonged to the Wolves, who pulled off the 72-63 victory over the Mustangs, ending their school-record streak and tournament dreams.  The win also breaks a 4-game losing streak for the Wolves, their longest since losing four straight early in the 2002-03 season.

The Wolves entered the game fighting fire with fire.  NSU raced out to the early lead, going 9 of 15 through the first 9:30 of the game, while holding SMSU to just 3 of 11 from the floor in the same stretch, eventually building a 23-11 advantage with less than seven minutes left in the half.

The Wolves, however, had also built up a substantial 8-2 lead in team fouls, sending the Mustangs to the free throw line 19 time in the first half, while getting to the stripe just four times themselves.  SMSU, however, made just 9 of those 19 free attempts, allowing the Wolves to escape into the halftime break leading 36-22.

The top-seeded Mustangs then mounted a slow, steady second-half comeback, cutting a 16-point deficit into just a 5-point game with less than two minutes left in the game.  Three Mitch Boeck (Arlington, S.D.) free throws later, the Wolves were back up by eight at 63-57, but SMSU's Ross DeMassi cut it back to a 6-point game with a tip-in with 1:01 left to play.

Finally forced to foul to stop the clock, the Mustangs sent the Wolves nine times in the final minute.  NSU made seven of those nine attempts, and put an exclamation point on the game when sophomore Brett Newton (Tyler, Minn.) was fouled on a break-away lay-up as time was winding down.  Newton converted on the 3-point play to put the game out of reach.

The Wolves got a huge game out of senior Kyle Schwan, who was 7-for-11 from the floor for a career-high 20 points.  NSU senior Kevin Ratzsch (Bloomington, Ill.) had 19 points and 14 boards for the Wolves.

The Wolves will now face the winner of the Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth game in the semifinal round of the tournament.