UMAC Basketball Tournaments to Begin on Wednesday
UMAC Men's Basketball Tournament Webpage
UMAC Women's Basketball Tournament Webpage
Video Interview: Erin Schmelling, Martin Luther College
ST. PAUL – The 2015 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Men’s & Women’s Basketball Postseason Tournament fields are set following an exciting final weekend of regular season play. Two sites will host four semifinal contests on Wednesday evening as the four-team single elimination tournaments and the battle for a trip to the 2015 NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament gets underway. The highest remaining seeds following Wednesday’s semifinal contests will then host Saturday’s championship games.
The 2014-2015 UMAC Women’s Basketball Regular season ended with the University of Minnesota Morris and the University of Northwestern being named Co-Champions as the two teams finished with identical 12-2 records, each losing to each other once and each falling to the College of St. Scholastica once during regular season play.
The title was the first since 2008 for the Eagles who will enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed looking to defend their postseason title. Northwestern will host fourth-seeded Martin Luther College (8-6 UMAC) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening in semifinal action. The Eagles swept the regular season contests between the two teams in 2014-2015.
The University of Minnesota Morris, who earned their sixth straight UMAC regular season title this year, will be the tournament’s No. 2 seed and will host third-seeded St. Scholastica on Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. in Morris. The Saints enter the postseason after compiling an 11-3 UMAC record, with one loss coming from each of the other three teams in the tournament. The Cougars and Saints split the regular season series with both contests begin decided by less than 10 points.
The University of Northwestern men’s basketball team won its 12
th UMAC regular season title in the last 15 years this season finishing with a program best conference record of 14-0 to earn the No. 1 seed in the UMAC Tournament. The Eagles, who have won the tournament each of the last four years, will host No. 4 College of St. Scholastica at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening. The Saints, who earned their spot in the four-team tournament by finishing with an 8-6 UMAC record, will travel to Northwestern for the tournament’s semifinal contest for the second straight year.
The tournament’s second seed, the University of Minnesota Morris, with host the other men’s semifinal on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. against third-seeded North Central University. The Cougars enter the tournament after finishing the regular season with a 9-5 conference record while the Rams finished with an 8-6 UMAC record and earned the No. 3 spot. It will be the third time the two teams meet this season and the second time in a matter of four days as they met in last Saturday’s regular season finale. The Cougars defeated the Rams on their home court late January by 17 points. However, the Rams were victorious last Saturday by a score of 87-80 in Minneapolis.
Tickets for all UMAC Tournament games are $7 for adults, $5 seniors and college students with ID, and $3 for youth ages 6-18. Children ages five and under are free, as are students, staff and faculty who present a valid ID from UMAC institutions. All four games will feature live video streaming and live statistics.