MADISON, S.D. – Mayville State collected the North Star Athletic Association men’s basketball regular season title outright with an overall record of 13-4 and 10-3 record in league play. The Comets had won the previous three NSAA men’s basketball postseason tournaments.
Bellevue (17-13 overall record) and Valley City State (18-6 overall record) both finished tied for second place in the conference standings with 9-5 record each. The Bruins own the tiebreaker by sweeping the season series with the Vikings, securing the No. 2 seed in the postseason tournament. VCSU will be the No. 3 seed.
Viterbo (11-7 overall record) is the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament with an 8-5 record in league play.
The top four seeds all host the first-round games on Tuesday.
Dakota State (9-14 overall record, 7-7 NSAA) is the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament, followed by Dickinson State sixth with an overall record of 9-16 and 6-8 NSAA conference record.
Waldorf is seventh with 5-16 overall record and 4-9 record in North Star contests. Presentation is eighth with 4-22 overall record and 1-12 NSAA conference record.
The opening round games are set on Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. Presentation at Mayville State; Dakota State at Viterbo and Waldorf at Bellevue. Dickinson State plays at Valley City State on the same night with a tip-off at 7 p.m.
The four opening round winners will advance to the semifinals round on Thursday (Feb. 25) at two higher seeds remaining, with times to be announced later. The championship game is slated for Saturday, Feb. 27 at the highest remaining seed with a tip-off at 5 p.m.
The NSAA postseason tournament champion earns an automatic bid to the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Tournament’s opening round. The national tournament opening round is scheduled for March 12-13 on campus sites.
The winners of the NAIA’s opening round games will advance to the final site at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. on March 18-23.