No. 1 Eagles, No. 2 Storm earn semifinal wins to set up UMAC men's basketball title game
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men’s basketball postseason tournament continued in exciting fashion with a pair of closely-contested semifinal contests Friday that saw the top two seeds in No. 1 University of Northwestern and No. 2 Crown College emerge victorious to advance to the title game Sunday.
The night started off with No. 2 Crown holding off No. 3 North Central University late in the game for a 72-68 win, while No. 1 Northwestern managed to keep No. 4 Bethany Lutheran College at bay to earn a 96-88 victory.
The No. 1 Eagles will play host to the No. 2 Storm in the UMAC tournament championship game Sunday at 2 p.m. in St. Paul.
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Tournament Championship Page |
Bracket |
No. 1 Northwestern def. No. 4 Bethany Lutheran, 96-88 | Box Score |
No. 1 Northwestern and No. 4 Bethany Lutheran met a week ago in the regular season weekend finale, and the Eagles needed a last-second shot to pull away for a one-point win and the conference title. The Eagles didn't need the heroics this week in order to advance to the UMAC championship game.
- The Eagles recorded a 54.5 field goal percentage in the win while holding the Vikings to 40.8 percent from the field. Northwestern also picked up 26 points from its bench to help offensively.
- Caleb Hoilien scored 21 of those 26 bench points to lead all Eagle scorers in the contest. Four Eagle starters tallied in double figures led by Noah Alm with 19 on 7-of-16 shooting. Owen Boermea grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.
- Brian Smith compiled a game-high 22 points in the loss for the Vikings while adding a game-high five assists. Hunter Nielsen added a 14-point, 13-rebound double double as well as two blocks.
No. 2 Crown No. 3 North Central, 72-68 | Box Score |
No. 2 Crown capitalized on opportunities from beyond the arc along with strong defense against the 3-pointer to hold off No. 3 North Central for the third time this season. The game was back-and-forth throughout with 15 lead changes, but the Storm eventually held things together to advance to the title game.
- Crown drained 11 shots from 3-point range and kept North Central to just 4-of-20 from deep. The Storm were also 13-of-18 from the line as opposed to just 4-of-8 for the Rams.
- Cade Carroll led all Storm players for points (25), rebounds (9) and assists (4). He also made four 3-pointers and was 7-of-8 from the line. Micah Ladd and Jacob Van Dam each added 19 adn 13 points, respectively.
- Micah Filer scored a game-high 27 points in the loss for the Rams. Justin Castro added 14 points, while Jonathan Thompson had a team-best eight rebounds.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Feb. 23 - Quarterfinals
No. 1 Northwestern def. No. 8 Martin Luther, 112-78 |
Box Score |
No. 2 Crown def. No. 7 Minnesota Morris, 82-60 |
Box Score |
No. 3 North Central def. No. 6 Northland, 93-65 |
Box Score |
No. 4 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 5 Wisconsin-Superior, 80-78 |
Box Score |
Friday, Feb. 25 - Semifinals
No. 1 Northwestern def. No. 4 Bethany Lutheran, 96-88 |
Box Score |
No. 2 Crown def. No. 3 North Central, 72-68 |
Box Score |
Sunday, Feb. 27 - Championship
No. 2 Crown AT No. 1 Northwestern, St. Paul, Minn., 2 p.m. |
Live Stats |
Live Video |
Ticket Information
All UMAC postseason events have the following set admissions prices: Adults, $10; college students and seniors, $5; youth (Age 6-18), $5; age 5 and under, FREE. Any UMAC students, faculty and staff are free with a valid and current institutional ID. No other passes will be accepted.
Tournament Championship Page