If the Timberwolves season has been a rollercoaster, as so described by Ant Edwards, well, then, for the NSIC men the 2024-2025 regular season, just concluded, was Steel Vengeance.
#1 Through 4, the 1st Round Byes, the Favorites
The coaches pre-season poll had the Minnesota State Mavericks, the ones over there in Mankato, fresh off their national championship in 2024, at #1, and they had Kyreese Willingham as the pre-seasoin POY. But the Mavs started out 0-3 and 1-5, and also started 2-2 and then 5-4 in the NSIC. But, the were 6-2 in March, 3rd best in the conference, to climb back up into 4th place and to get a 1st round playoff bye at 15-7. Kyreese finished strongly too with a 19-6-2-2 line and 47% shooting, though I thought guard Justin Eagins was their best player at 15-3-5 and 38% from 3.
But, way back in November, I had the other Minnesota State, the one up in the frozen north of Moorhead, MN, as my NSIC fave, and the Dragons started strong at 10-2 and 5-1 in the conference. But, then, the injury bug bit both starting guards JaMir Price and Jacob Beeninga. Price (14 ppg) never came back, while Beeninga (16 ppg) missed 13 games, during which the Dragons lost 5 straight and went a total of 7-6. At low ebb they were 7-7 in the conference. But, aside from Price, everybody got healthy and Moorhead finished with 8 straight wins, including at 1st place Concordia and an 81-55 thrashing of Mankato last Saturday. Not only that but in Beeninga’s absence the Dragons activated freshman guard Carson Johnson who quickly became their best player. Who wants to play these guys in the post-season? Nobody, that’s who.
Southwest Minnesota State, located out in South Dakota somewhere, oh, wait, no, that’s Marshall, MN, it just seems like South Dakota, was ranked #4 both by me and by the NSIC coaches, but Mustangs started hot, beating Mankato twice in their first 4 conference games, and they stayed hot, once getting up to 13-2 and 17-3. But, they were just 4-3 in February, tied for 6th best. Three straight losses to Duluth, Winona and Wayne did not boost their confidence, but they finished with 3 straight wins to tie for 1st in the NSIC with the 2nd seed. Sophomore forward Aeron Stevens, from Plainview, and junior guard Jakob Braaten, from Byron, led the way with 14 points each.
Tied with Southwest atop the NSIC was–well, you would never guess if you didn’t know–was the long-suffering Concordia St. Paul Bears. Their last conference championship in men’s basketball was in the UMAC in 1994. The coaches ranked them #8 coming into the season, I had them #11. Well, the Bears got healthy, according to one CSP fan. Antwan Kimmons got healthy, Japannah Kellogg got healthy, Cade Meyer came to town, and the Bears were 10-3 and 6-2 on New Year’s Day. They were 6-2 in January and 5-2 in February, just good enough to hold on to that share of 1st. They’re a fast-paced, high risk/reward team that scores almost 10 ppg more than anybody but Minot State, and as such they’re susceptible to off nights. But, Kimmons, from Tartan, is a candidate for national D2 POY.
#5 Through 12, the Challengers
Numbers 5 through 12 will have to survive a 1st round playoff on Tuesday in order to advance to the quarter-finals and etc. at the Denny in bustling Sioux Falls.
St. Cloud State went 5-2 in February to climb into that 4-way tie for 3rd along with Moorhead, Mankato and UMD, though it was of course the Dragons and Mavs who got the bye, while the Huskies will play #12 Bemidji State, who is an interesting story, but not in a good way. Bemidji was rated #5 in both the coaches poll and my “poll.” But big man John Sutherland missed the 1st 12 games, and the Beavers had losing streaks of 4 games (without Sutherland) and 6 (after Sutherland’s return). Now they’ve got one more chance to right their season at UMD’s expense. I’m not expecting it.
Minnesota-Duluth started 5-0 but soon was 7-5 and 2-4 in the conference, but the Bulldogs went 7-1 in February to climb into that share of 3rd and at least a home court 1st round playoff game. UMD gets #11 Augustana, who used to be a powerhouse but has fallen on hard times in part, I suppose, due to the rise of Sioux Falls. The Augies finished 1-6.
Winona State was picked 11th by the coaches and #10 by yours truly. They started 8-3 in the conference, and I saw them manhandle Mankato on December 21 88-75. But, they weren’t always that good nor Mankato that bad. They limped into the playoffs 3-4 in February, but held on to the home court. They get Wayne State, who finished 3-4 in February, the same as Winona, and who could give the Warriors a battle.
Finally, Minot State had the roller-coaster of roller-coasters, starting 17-0, then limping home with 3 and 4 game losing streaks. They get Sioux Falls on Tuesday. It was Sioux Falls that derailed the 17-0 Beavers back in January, so anything can happen.
Well, and finally finally, Minnesota-Crookston, Mary, and Northern State went 2-19 in February, which is as good a way as any to miss the playoffs.
The Quarter-Finals
#1 seed Concordia gets the 1st quarter-final at 4:30 on Saturday March 1 and it says here that they’re going to face Minot, who will avenge their big regular season loss at Sioux Falls. My pick is CSP 83-79.
#2 Southwest State plays the 2nd QF at 7 p.m. against Winona, who will survive Wayne on Tuesday. Here I’m thinking Southwest 74 Winona 67.
#4 Mankato draws the 1st men’s QF on Sunday March 2 at 4:30 where they should expect to meet #5 St. Cloud. What a great, historic rivalry, by the way. Mankato now leads 70-52 including 9-1 over the last 10 matchups. The 2 split a pair this year with the visitor winning each time. On a neutral court in March, who the hell knows. Well, except that Mankato is on a historic run, not just 9-1 but 17-4 going back a dozen years. You gotta like Mankato. I’ll say 80-69.
#3 Moorhead will play the last men’s QF on Sunday March 2 at 7 p.m., where they’ll face, well, I’m sayin’ UMD. These were the 2 hottest and therefore probably the 2 best teams in the conference in February, 14-1 between them. The only February loss between them was UMD’s, wait for it, against Moorhead 68-67. So, this is gonna be a doozy. I like Moorhead 74 UMD 70.
The Semis
It says here Concordia 82 Mankato 80.
And, Moorhead 79 Southwest State 69.
The Final
Moorhead 81 CSP 77.
All-NSIC (Minnesota only)
C- John Sutherland, Bemidji 16-7-5, 59%
PF- Kyreese Willingham, Mankato 19-6-2-2, 47%
SF- Charlie Katona, UMD 16-7-2, 48%
PG- Carson Johnson, Moorhead 19-3-3, 43%
SG- Antwan Kimmons, CSP 25-6-6, 53%
Second
C- Jacob Jennissen, Moorhead 12-8, 64%
PF- Isaiah Thompson, Winona 13-9, 54%
SF- Luke Haertle, Winona 17-7-4, 45%
PG- Justin Eagins, Mankato 15-3-5, 41%
SG- Jacob Beeninga, Moorhead 16-3-3, 44%