Updated March 1, 2009 (6:30 p.m.)
Both No. 1 seeds in the UMAC men's and women's basketball tournaments won their respective championship games on Sunday afternoon, completing a season sweep. The College of St. Scholastica overcame a 10-point deficit in the final three minutes of play to defeat Bethany Lutheran College 66-61 in men's action, while Northland College used a 23-6 run in the first 10 minutes of the second half to seal the women's title. More from Sunday's games to come on Monday morning. Access the tournament web site for more details.
Updated Feb. 27, 2009 (11 a.m.)
The UMAC men's and women's basketball tournament championship games have been moved from Saturday, Feb. 28 to Sunday, March 1 to accomodate Thursday's games that were postponed due to weather.
St. Scholastica, the No. 1 seed in the men's tournament, won its game over Minnesota, Morris on Thursday night, giving them home court advantage in Sunday's finale. The Saints' opponent will be the winner of Bethany Lutheran and Martin Luther, who will face off in New Ulm, Minn. on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Sunday's finale will begin at 1 p.m. in Duluth, Minn.
On the women's side, top-seeded Northland won its game over Martin Luther on Thursday night, guaranteeing that Sunday's tournament championship will take place in Ashland, Wis. The Lumberjills will await the winner of Friday's game in Morris, Minn. between Minnesota, Morris and Northwestern. Sunday's women's championship will begin at 2 p.m.
Click here to access the men's and women's basketball conference tournament website. Stay tuned to umacathletics.com for updates as they become available.
Updated Feb. 26, 2009 (3 p.m.)
Two of the UMAC tournament basketball games will go on as scheduled on Thursday night, while two more have been postponed to Friday due to inclement weather.
Thursday's men's game between Bethany Lutheran and Martin Luther will be played on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in New Ulm, Minn., while Thursday's women's contest featuring Northwestern and Minnesota, Morris will start at the same time in Morris, Minn.
Thursday's games between the Minnesota, Morris and St. Scholastica men and the Martin Luther and Northland women will go on as scheduled. Both games will tip off at 7:30 p.m.
ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's and women's basketball tournament fields have been filled, and if the league's final weekend of the regular season is any indication of what is to come, this week's playoff games are going to be exciting.
2009 will be the first year that six teams are featured in the conference tournament. Each gender's Nos. 1 and 2 seeds received a first round bye, while the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds will host the Nos. 6 and 5 seeds in the tournament’s opening rounds.
In Tuesday’s men’s games, third-seeded Northwestern College (10-4 UMAC) will host No. 6 Bethany Lutheran College (5-9) at 7:30 p.m. In the two regular season games between these teams, both have won on their home court, with the latest result being an 83-78 overtime win by the Vikings on Feb. 6.
In the other men’s game, No. 5 seed Presentation College (6-8 UMAC) travels to fourth-seeded University of Minnesota, Morris (9-5 UMAC) for a 7:30 p.m. showdown. Minnesota, Morris won both games during the regular season, but only by a combined eight points.
Awaiting Tuesday’s winners will be the UMAC regular season co-champions, the College of St. Scholastica and Martin Luther College. No UMAC team enters this week hotter than St. Scholastica (11-3 UMAC), who has won eight straight conference games dating back to January 24. The top-seeded Saints claimed a share of the UMAC title on Saturday after defeating Martin Luther in both teams’ final regular season game. Martin Luther (11-3 UMAC) enters the tournament as the second seed, having led the league in scoring offense throughout the regular season. Both semifinal contests will be at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26. Thursday’s winners will face off in the tournament championship on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
On the women’s side, UMAC champion Northland College (12-2 UMAC) and Minnesota, Morris (11-3 UMAC), who both received first round byes, will await the winner of Tuesday’s opening round games. The Lumberjills from Northland, whose conference title is their first since the 2003-04 season, will host all of its games as the tournament’s top seed. Minnesota, Morris earned the No. 2 seed due to tiebreaker rules over third-seeded Northwestern.
In Tuesday’s opening round, Northwestern (11-3 UMAC) will host the team it played just 72 hours earlier in sixth seeded Presentation (5-9 UMAC). The Saints from Aberdeen, S.D. will make their second trip to St. Paul in less than a week, hoping to overturn Saturday’s 71-40 result. Northwestern has won both contests between the two schools in 2008-09.
Tuesday’s other opening round game will feature two more teams who played each other on Saturday in No. 4 Martin Luther (7-7 UMAC) and No. 5 St. Scholastica (6-8 UMAC). Martin Luther claimed both regular season matchups, earning the right to host their opponents from Duluth, Minn. Tuesday’s opening round game between Northwestern and Presentation begins at 5:30 p.m., while Martin Luther and St. Scholastica will tip off at 7:30 p.m.
Click here to access the men's and women's basketball conference tournament website, which includes the completed brackets for both tournaments along with links to live statistics and audio and video broadcasts.