SIOUX FALLS, S.D. --- #2 Minnesota State controlled the pace throughout Tuesday evening  at the Sanford Pentagon as the Mavericks bested #9 Minnesota Duluth 97-77 to win the NSIC Tournament Championship.

With the win, MSU improves to 29-2. With the loss, UMD drops to 25-6. This marks the fourth conference tournament championship win in team history. MSU won the North Central Conference Tournament in 2006 and the NSIC Tournament Championships in 2013 and 2014 previously.

Minnesota State will learn its NCAA Tournament fate during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 10:00 p.m. The selection show will be streamed on NCAA.com.

Five minutes into the game the Mavericks built a 12-7 lead, which included a 3-of-6 showing from three point range. The game remained within a pair of scores with 11:26 to go as the Mavericks led 21-17. MSU then put together an 11-run, including six points from Brady Williams, to go up by 15 at 32-17 with 8:24 to go in the game.

UMD answered MSU's 11-0 run with an 8-0 run of its own to get back within seven points 32-25 with 6:31 remaining in the half. MSU and UMD nearly matched each other through the 6:13 on the half as the Mavericks carried a 47-41 lead into halftime.

Seven Mavericks reached the scoring column in the first half, including Elijah Hazekamp and Malik Willingham who each notched 10 points. Justin Eagins added nine points as well. As a unit, MSU shot 50.0% from the field in the opening stanza, while also enjoying an 18-13 advantage in rebounds.

Drew Blair led the Bulldog offense in the first half with 18 points, while Jack Middleton tallied five points. As a team, UMD shot 51.7% from the field in the first half, including a 5-of-11 (.455) showing from three point range.
UMD worked its way back to within one point of the Mavericks at 55-54 with 15:42 to go in the second half. MSU responded with a 16-7 run over the next 5:26 to reestablish its double-digit lead at 71-61 with 9:50 to go. Six different Mavericks recorded a basket during the stretch.

The Mavericks did not not look back the rest of the way as they led by as many as 25 points, en route to the 97-77 win.

Five Mavericks scored at least 11 points, including Malik Willingham who led the team with 21 points, while Eagins tallied 20 points and five assists. Kyreese Willingham tallied 15 points and eight rebounds, while Hazekamp tallied 12 points. Brady Williams notched 11 points off the bench, while Dylan Peeters recorded a team-leading nine rebounds.

As a team, MSU shot 52.9% from the field, including an 11-of-30 (.367) showing from downtown. The Mavericks scored 19 of their points off of 13 UMD turnovers and the MSU bench outscored the UMD bench 22-13.
Blair led UMD with 27 points and five rebounds, while Middleton tallied 10 points.

As a team, UMD shot 49.2% from the field, including a 9-of-18 (.500) performance from three point range.

Malik Willingham received NSIC Tournament MVP honors as he averaged 23.0 points and 4.3 rebounds a game while shooting 43.9% from the field in three games. He is the fourth Maverick in team history to claim conference tournament MVP honors joining Luke Anderson (2006 NCC), Jarvis Williams (2013 NSIC) and Zach Monaghan (2014 NSIC).

Kyreese Willingham and Justin Eagins also claimed NSIC All-Tournament Team honors. Kyreese Willingham posted 18.3 points and 5.0 rebounds a game, while Eagins averaged 14.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists a game.