Article

Back To Back?

The Maverick men's hoops squad hits the Taylor Center hardwood this weekend set to wrap up their second straight North Central Conference Championship.

by Dax Larson

Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: Mens Sports

One flip of a coin could determine whether or not No.11 Minnesota State will host the North Central Conference tournament. Two South Dakota wins and one Maverick win would give the two teams a share of the regular season conference title. The title would be the second consecutive for MSU and South Dakota's 12th NCC title.

"We are playing for a conference championship on Saturday," said Mavericks head coach Matt Margenthaler. "It doesn't matter what USD does anymore. We put ourselves into a position to play for a conference championship."

If both teams win Saturday they will have the same NCC record of 10-2. In the event of a tie, the tiebreaker is conference record against the third-place team. If that record is the same it proceeds down the rankings until one team has a better record than the other against a certain team. The thing about that tiebreaker is that both teams lost to each other and Minnesota-Duluth. So now what? A coin toss?

Maybe.

"We hope it doesn't come to that point, but if it does, it does," Margenthaler said. "I think USD is going to struggle these last two games and the pressure is on them now and when teams play with pressure they don't play their best basketball."

Unfortunately for Margenthaler & Co., USD passed their first test Wednesday night with an 86-71 victory over Augustana.

Should both teams win Saturday, NCC commissioner Roger Thomas would conduct the coin toss with a witness during a conference call with the two teams. But, there are a few ways a coin toss will not be necessary:

• A USD loss on Saturday against St. Cloud with an MSU win would give the Mavericks the title.

• If both teams lose Saturday, they would share the title, but MSU would host because St. Cloud would be the third-place team.

•For South Dakota to gain the outright championship they need to win MSU needs to lose its final game.

The Mavericks are on an 18-game home winning streak dating back to January of last year. If MSU hosts, they have a good chance of coming away with the Wells Fargo Finals championship.

"(To host) would be big for us because of what we've done at home this year," said senior Tony Thomason. "If we host, I don't see us losing."

Being at home for the tournament isn't the only perk. The team that hosts will get a first-round bye and won't have to play Wednesday. The host team will get a full week of practice and get to stay home and wait for the competition to come to them.

In 2005, the Mavericks faced South Dakota for the third time in Wells Fargo Finals history. But, this time it was in the championship. The Mavericks lost 87-72. Last season, the Mavericks earned the No.1 seed in the conference and hosted the tournament. They used their home-court advantage to make it to the championship and down St. Cloud State 78-69 in a battle of the top two seeds. The winner of the Wells Fargo Finals receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II tournament.

Dax Larson is a Reporter staff writer