Men's Basketball
Men's Basketball
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Season Wrap-Up
Monday, April 6, 2009
The Husky men's basketball team ran to the 2009 NSIC Tournament Title in thier first season in the league. |
Final Release April 6, 2009
NCAA Central Regional: An abrupt ending came to the Huskies season as they fell in the first round of the NCAA Central Region Tournament. After fighting back from a 15-point deficit with only 11 minutes to go in the game, the Huskies held a two-point lead (72-70) with just three seconds left. Then, SCSU’s dreams were dashed as Augustana’s David Foster nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer for the win. Augie would go on to play for the regional championship, where they fell to Central Region Champion, and host, Southwest Minnesota.
For the Record: The Huskies closed the 2008-09 campaign with a 22-9 record, and a 14-6 mark in the NSIC.
All-time Wins Leader: A record fell on Feb. 21, 2009, as Kevin Schlagel won his 232nd career game. With the win over Minnesota, Crookston, Schlagel moved past his predecessor, Butch Raymond, as the winningest head coach in SCSU men’s basketball history. Raymond was 231-142 in his 13 seasons, and after 12 season’s, Schlagel is now 237-112.
Third in the NSIC: The Huskies finished the conference season in a three-way tie for third place. Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth matched SCSU with 14-6 NSIC records. Southwest Minnesota won the regular season championship with a 17-3 league mark.
We Are The champions: After entering the NSIC/Sanford Health Men’s Basketball Tournament as the #3 seed (thanks to a strength of schedule bump past MSU and UMD), the Huskies knocked off the #6, #2 and #4 seeds on their way to the Tournament Championship. The Huskies won 91-84 in the first round over Augustana and 91-77 in the semifinals over Winona State before meeting Minnesota State in the championship game. The game went down to the wire, but the Huskies prevailed for 91-89 win and title of Champions.
All-Tournament Team: Taylor Witt scored 59 points in the semifinals and finals and averaged over 20 points per game for the tournament, while Matt Schneck tabbed a double-double in each game. For their efforts the two were named to the All-Tournament team with Witt earning tournament MVP honors.
All-District: Taylor Witt earned All-Central District second team honors from the NABC this season. Witt was one of 11 total players from across the NSIC and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) chosen to either the first or second team.
All-Conference Sophs: Taylor Witt was named first team All-NSIC with Andrew Bernstetter earning second team accolades. Witt is one of just two sophomores on the first team, while Bernstetter is the only sophomore on the second team. Witt, a guard, led the Huskies in scoring, while Bernstetter, a forward, led in rebounding.
All-Academic: SCSU junior Matt Schneck and sophomore Andrew Bernstetter represented the Huskies on the NSIC Winter All-Academic Team. Schneck is majoring in marketing and management, while Bernstetter is a biomedical science major.
NSIC Player-of-the-Week: The Huskies led way in the NSIC with three different players earning four player-of-the-week laurels in 2008-09, more than any other team. Matt Schneck nabbed the honor twice (Nov. 18, Jan. 5) while Andrew Bernstetter (Dec. 8) and Taylor Witt (Feb. 2) each collected POW accolades once. Schneck was one of only four players to be named POW twice.
Individual Conference Champions: Statistically speaking, Taylor Witt and Spencer Bartz are NSIC champions. In conference games Witt ended the season as the NSIC assist co-champion, tying Ben Fischer of WSU with 115. Bartz finished the season as the best three-point shooter in conference games with a .563 mark, as well as in all games with a .508 tally.
National Rankings: The Huskies landed on the national polls on two separate occasions this season after first receiving votes on Nov. 25 in the first regular season NABC Top-25 poll. On Jan. 6 SCSU first was ranked at #24 and after falling out of the rankings, returned on Mar. 10 in the final poll of the season where they were ranked #22.
Vs. Ranked Opponents: The Huskies went 3-3 this season against teams ranked at the time of the game. SCSU beat #9 Minnesota State on Jan. 17, #20 Winona State on Feb. 28 and #25 Winona State on Mar. 7. The Huskies lost to #16 Northern State on Jan. 24, #24 Southwest Minnesota on Feb. 13 and # 17 Minnesota State on Feb. 14. SCSU was 8-5 in all games this season against teams that were ranked in the top-25 at some point.
Listen In: Fans heard the Huskies all season long, live on AM 1450 KNSI with John Hadden giving the play-by-play.
Watch Live: For the third straight season fans were able to catch the Huskies live online from Halenbeck Hall through SCSU’s partnership with B2 Networks.
Team Captains: Senior forwards Brett Carmichael and Craig Coenen and junior center Matt Schneck captained the Huskies in 2008-09.
- for complete .pdf release please click here, or visit: http://www.stcloudstate.edu/athletics/sports/basketball-mens/news.asp -
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