Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – While it wasn’t the prettiest win on record for the Northern State University men’s basketball team, Friday night’s 50-45 win over the visiting Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs still goes down as a win for the Wolves, who rallied back from a 23-19 halftime deficit to claim the victory.

Despite scoring a season-low 50 points on the night, the Wolves moved to 8-1 overall and 2-1 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, while the Mustangs have dropped two straight conference games and stand at 6-3 overall and 0-2 in the league. 

SMSU had been ranked No. 24 in the country prior to last week’s loss to 6th-ranked Minnesota State, but have since dropped out of the national polls altogether.  NSU has received votes in each of the last two editions of the national tally.

The Wolves were led by senior Kevin Ratzsch (Bloomington, Ill.), who had a game-high 19 points.  Ratzsch again waited until late in the game to get going, as the 6-foot-7 forward scored 14 of those points in the second half, including a stretch of five straight to cap a 10-3 NSU run and tie the game at 42-all with 5:17 left in the game.

The last three points of that run came on a crowd-electrifying play sparked when junior Mitch Boeck (Arlington, S.D.) stuffed Taylor Huseby on the low block.  Senior Kyle Schwan (Aberdeen, S.D.) picked up the deflection and zipped a pass down court to Ratzsch, who laid it in off the glass and drew the foul.  Ratzsch then converted on the ensuing free throw, forcing the game’s sixth tie and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

One basket and four free throws later with the game tied at 45-all, Ratzsch again converted on a jumper in the lane to put the Wolves up by two with 39 seconds left in the game. 

However, the senior was whistled for his fourth foul at the 18-second mark, sending SMSU’s Nick Dale to the line for two shots.  Dale was unable to convert on either attempt, however, and were forced to foul after Ratzsch secured the defensive rebound following the second missed free throw.

Ratzsch and Schwan converted on three of four attempts from the stripe in the game’s final 16 seconds to put the game out of reach.

NSU senior Rob Thomas also found double-digits for the Wolves, putting up 12 points and going 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

As a team, the Wolves were just 17-for-45 (37.8 percent) from the floor, marking the second straight game NSU has been held under 40 percent shooting.  The Wolves, however, held the Mustangs to just 31.4 percent on their end of the court.

NSU head coach Don Meyer tallied his 899th career victory with the win and now needs just four more to pass up Bob Knight for the most wins by an NCAA coach.

The win comes on the heels of an overtime loss to Augustana last Friday, but the road gets no easier for the Wolves on Saturday as they host sixth-ranked Minnesota State in a key NSIC match-up.  The Mavericks were 83-61 winners over the University of Mary on Friday and enter tomorrows contest riding a 9-game win streak.