Centenary has notified the Summit League it will leave the conference in 2011. The school avoids any penalties by giving a two-year notice. South Dakota is set to join the league in 2011, so it appears the league will stay at 10 teams

Losing Centenary is not a big loss for the Summit League. Remaining league members won’t miss the cost of traveling to Centenary’s Shreveport, La. campus. The Gents and Ladies have struggled in men’s and women’s basketball and most other league-sponsored sports. Centenary is also one of the smallest schools at the Division I level with less than a 1,000 students.

"The main reasons were financial and to find a conference more geographically appropriate," Centenary interim president Michael Easton told the Shreveport Times.

The Gents men’s basketball team is ineligible for postseason play next season because of poor Academic Progress Rate scores.

No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 8 Centenary
Why the Bison will win: NDSU has four fifth-year seniors, who have prepared their entire career for this one shot at the NCAA tournament. Summit League Player of the Year Ben Woodside, first team all-league selection Brett Winkelman, Mike Nelson and Lucas Moormann will play like there is no tomorrow because for these guys there’s not. The Bison offense has been tough to stop all season and scored 89 points in their win over Centenary last week. Woodside had 32 points in the game that had a tournament feel because NDSU was trying to clinch a share of the league title, while Centenary was fighting to make the league tournament.

Why the Gents will win: The equalizer for Centenary is its 3-point shooting. In league play, the Gents led the league in 3-pointers made with 139 and attempted (388). Nick Stallings and Chase Adams each hit over 55 this season and David Perez and Maxx Nakwaasah hit over 20. If the Gents are on from the outside they can play with anybody, but if not they could be in trouble. The big keys for Centenary will be Stalling’s offense, the team is 3-0 in league play when he scores over 20, and how well Adams (the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year) can defend Woodside.

Key matchup: NDSU’s Ben Woodside vs. Centenary’s Chase Adams
Season matchup: NDSU swept, 68-53 on Dec. 6 and 89-79 on Feb. 26
Prediction: North Dakota State comes out with emotion and builds an early lead the Gents can’t recover from. Winner: North Dakota State

No. 2 Oral Roberts vs. No. 7 South Dakota State
Why the Golden Eagles will win: Oral Roberts has the experience edge as the three-time defending tournament champions and the Jacks are playing in their first-ever Division I tournament game. The Golden Eagles frontline of Marcus Lewis and Kevin Ford will have a height and strength advantage, and know how to take advantage of it. ORU senior Robert Jarvis is also known to play his best in big-game situations and won’t be intimidated by the home crowd.

Why the Jacks will win: SDSU will have the home crowd behind it as the state of South Dakota comes out to enjoy its first Division I basketball tournament. The Jacks road troubles have been well documented, but they will be just one hour from their Brookings campus where they went 10-3 this season and 7-2 in league play. SDSU also has solid depth with three players averaging in double figures in Garrett Callahan, Clint Sargent and Anthony Cordova, and also have Kai Williams (9.9 per game) and Dale Moss, who filled in nicely for Sargent who missed a few games recently.

Key matchup: ORU’s Marcus Lewis vs. SDSU’s Kai Williams
Season matchup: ORU swept, 85-76 on Dec. 6 and 63-58 on Feb. 26
Prediction: The Jacks played ORU tough on the road last week and will have the home crowd behind it so an upset pick is tempting. But ORU has been here before and while it will likely be a close game, the more experienced team will win out. Winner: Oral Roberts

No. 4 IUPUI vs. No. 5 Southern Utah
Why the Jaguars will win: IUPUI is clearly the more athletic team and will us its athleticism to its advantage. Robert Glenn and Leroy Nobles have really emerged during league play, while freshman sensation Alex Young has been up and down. If all three can get going, along with Gary Patterson, then the Jaguars have a chance to do some damage. IUPUI has struggled with consistency, but also has multiple players capable of taking a game over.

Why the Thunderbirds will win: Southern Utah coach Roger Reid has gotten the most out of his team all season and will have them ready for the tournament. The frontline of Tyler Quinney and John Clifford can matchup with Glenn and Nobles. The real x-factor for the Thunderbirds will be Davis Baker. If Baker can get going then SUU will have a good shot, but if Baker struggles then so will the Thunderbirds. SUU will also make any team pay for silly fouls, the Thunderbirds lead the nation in free-throw percentage.

Key matchup: Southern Utah’s Davis Baker vs. IUPUI’s Leroy Nobles
Season matchup: IUPUI swept, 59-54 on Jan. and 79-65 on Jan. 29
Prediction: IUPUI is a bad matchup for Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds will keep it close, but the Jaguars will advance behind the play of Glenn, Nobles and Patterson.

1. North Dakota State (23-6, 16-2 Summit) — The Bison earned their first outright conference title since 1981 by going into the Mabee Center and beating Oral Roberts, which was looking for a share of its fifth straight title. Senior Ben Woodside hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final 34.9 seconds to lift NDSU to the win and cement his spot as the Summit League Player of the Year. Woodside had 29 points in the win, while Brett Winkelman had 21 and Michael Tveidt had 17. The rest of the team combined for eight points. Depth looks to be NDSU’s only weakness heading into the tournament.
2. Oral Roberts (16-14, 14-4) — The Golden Eagles played likely their best game in the month of February in their loss at home to North Dakota State. Oral Roberts had a shot at its fifth-straight regular-season league title, but now must focus on trying to win its fourth-straight tournament title. The Golden Eagles had the advantage of the tournament being in Tulsa the last four years, but now must face South Dakota State in Sioux Falls, S.D. in the first round. The loss at home to NDSU snapped ORU’s streak of 35 straight wins at home in league play.
3. Oakland (20-11, 13-5) — The Golden Grizzlies are likely the hottest team entering the league tournament after winning their last seven. Oakland has won by an average of 13.4 points during its seven-game win streak and have averaged 82.3 points per game. Senior Erik Kangas hit five 3-pointers in the Grizzlies win over UMKC, which give him 119 on the year and breaks former UMKC great Michael Watson’s single-season league record of 118 3-pointers. Kangas’ 4.0 3-pointers per game is the third most in the nation and his 42.3 3-point percentage is 21st in the nation.
4. IUPUI (16-13, 9-9) — The Jaguars ended Western Illinois season with a 71-66 win in Macomb, Ill. The Leathernecks knew they needed to beat IUPUI to get in, but couldn’t get past the Jags. IUPUI had four players in double figures in the win lead by 17 from Alex Young, but had just seven bench points. The starting five of Young, Robert Glenn, Gary Patterson, Leroy Nobles and Jon Avery is likely the Jaguars best unit and expect those five to start in Sioux Falls.
5. IPFW (13-16, 8-10) — The Mastodons enter the tournament on a three-game winning streak and have won five of their last seven after starting off league play 3-8. Senior David Carson and junior Delivez Yearby have been huge during the three game winning streak. Carson has averaged 17.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game, while Yearby averaged 10 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. The Mastodons will face Oakland, which swept them during the regular season.
6. Southern Utah (10-19, 8-10) — The Thunderbirds dropped a pair of road games last week, but still managed to get the five seed. In the first round, SUU will face IUPUI, one of only two teams to sweep SUU this season. The Thunderbirds averaged just 57 points a game in the two losses last week, while giving up 73.5. Davis Baker averaged 13.5 points a game, but no other player averaged in double figures.
7. South Dakota State (12-19, 7-11) — The Jacks road losing streak continued with a pair of losses at Oral Roberts and Centenary last week, which dropped them to the seven seed. But SDSU enters the tournament as a dangerous team. The Jacks nearly upset ORU before falling in the final minutes and will be just an hour from campus for the rematch in the first round of the tournament. Second leading scorer Clint Sargent returned from an ankle injury to score 20 points in 26 minutes in the loss at Centenary.
8. Centenary (6-12, 8-22) — The Gents are now playing with house money after sneaking into the conference tournament with a win over South Dakota State. Centenary lost eight straight prior to the win over the Jacks. Senior Nick Stallings scored 22 points in the win over SDSU and the Gents clearly need Stallings' scoring to win games. Stallings averaged just 9.1 points per game during Centenary’s eight-game losing streak after scoring 16.2 per game when the Gents started conference play 5-4. Centenary is 3-0 in league play when Stallings scores 20 or more.
9. Western Illinois (9-20, 6-12) — The Leathernecks had three straight home games to end the season and needed to win just one to get in the conference tournament, but failed to do so. It’s a shame senior David DuBois career had to end like that. DuBois played hurt for most of the season and was a great competitor. WIU will also lose second-leading scorer Josh Rivers so head coach Jim Molinari will have a lot of work to do, but he has the long-term contract to get it done.
10. UMKC (7-24, 3-15) — The Kangaroos showed a lot of heart in its loss at Oakland by not giving up when they were down 20 early and making it an interesting game. UMKC could be a dangerous team next season depending on how hard the core of underclassmen work in the offseason. The Roos only lose senior Dane Brumagin, who showed a lot of toughness playing hurt the last few weeks. Playing on one foot, Brumagin scored 14 points against Oakland when most guys might have just quit on the team.

I'll be heading to Sioux Falls on Friday to cover the league tournament and will likely be live blogging from all the Oakland games. I plan on doing several things leading up to start of the tournament, including final Summit League power rankings, my Summit League all-conference ballot, a tournament edition of Grizz Talk and previews for all the men's games so be sure to check in. It's shaping up to be a fun tournament and I expect some big crowds in Sioux Falls.

Here are a couple links from this weekend
Oakland men-UMKC game story.
Oakland women-UMKC game story.
Feature on OU's Ricky Bieszki making his first career start

The final Saturday of the regular season in the Summit League is here and it will be an interesting one. Only two teams fates are already decided, Oakland will be the three seed and UMKC won’t make the conference tournament. Everyone else has something to play for, here is how things breakdown, game by game.

Update: Got an update from the league office today, apparently Saturday's Oral Roberts-North Dakota State game is winner take all. Meaning the winner is the No. 1 seed.

From the league office: In the event of a tie between North Dakota State and Oral Roberts, ORU will be the top seed in the tournament based on tiebreaker procedures. The teams split their head-to-head competition, therefore moving the tiebreaker to comparison of the teams’ record against the team occupying the highest position in the standings until a team gains the advantage. ORU went 2-0 against Southern Utah while NDSU went 1-1. In the event that Southern Utah and IPFW, or any additional team(s) tie, SUU gains the higher seed based on the same procedure.

North Dakota State (22-6, 15-2) at Oral Roberts (16-13, 14-3), 7:05 p.m. — There is no doubt this is the big one. The Bison have already clinched a share of the regular-season league title, but the No. 1 seed in the Summit League tournament and the automatic NIT bid are still up for grabs. The Golden Eagles can secure the No. 1 seed with a win and if Southern Utah wins at IPFW. NDSU wins the title outright with a victory and no tiebreaker is needed.

Southern Utah (10-18, 8-9) at IPFW (12-16, 7-10), 4 p.m. — Both teams have secured a spot in the tournament, but have plenty to play for. The Thunderbirds can secure at least the five-seed, possibly the fourth with a win. A loss and Southern Utah could fall to the six-seed and have to face red-hot Oakland in the first round. IPFW is currently in sixth, but could jump to five with a win, while a loss could put it in seventh.


IUPUI (15-13, 8-9) at Western Illinois (9-19, 6-11), 7 p.m. — The Leathernecks could be playing for their tournament life, but will know their fate before the game because Centenary plays at 2:30 p.m. If the Gents lose, Western Illinois is in, but if the Gents win, Western Illinois must win to get in. The Leathernecks will be the eight seed if they can get in because they can’t win the tiebreakers with IPFW or South Dakota State. IUPUI can secure the four seed with a win, but based on its sweeps of IPFW and Southern Utah can fall now lower than the five seed (I think) so the Jaguars are likely locked in at the 4-5 matchup.

South Dakota State (12-18, 7-10) at Centenary (7-22, 5-12), 2:30 p.m. — The Gents have collapsed after a nice start to the conference season, losing eight straight, but amazingly can still sneak into the tournament with a win and a Western Illinois loss. The Jackrabbits, which are hosting the tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D., are the real wildcard. SDSU has clinched a spot, but can finish as high as fourth and as low as seventh (I think). Best-case scenario for the Jacks, is they win, IPFW beats Southern Utah and Western Illinois beats IUPUI, which would create a four-way tie at 8-10 for the 4-7 spots. Who goes where I can’t really figure out because there is so many tiebreakers in play based on head-to-head sweeps and wins over the top three teams. I’ll let the league sort that mess out.


UMKC (7-23, 3-14) at Oakland (19-11, 12-5), 6 p.m. — This game is meaningless to the standings, but Oakland has a chance to secure 20 wins, a perfect home record and extends its winning streak to seven.

My predictions
1. Oral Roberts — Golden Eagles win fifth straight-regular season title and the No. 1 seed based on the tiebreaker.
2. North Dakota State — Bison lose at ORU and lose the tiebreaker because of loss to SUU
3. Oakland — Grizzlies enter tourney on seven game win streak
4. IUPUI — Jags beat Leathernecks and secure fourth spot
5. Southern Utah — Thunderbirds win over NDSU secures it the five seed
6. IPFW — Mastodons win third straight, but lose tiebreaker to SUU
7. South Dakota State — Jacks pick up first road win in conference play and get another shot at ORU
8. Western Illinois — The Leathernecks sneak in despite losing three-straight at home to end the season
9. Centenary — Gents complete collapse and lose their ninth straight to end the year
10. UMKC — The Kangaroos fall to Oakland and use the offseason to figure out what went wrong

Thought I would try to predict how the conference race will play out in the final week and half. Here is what I see happening, but the Summit League has proved to be unpredictable so far this season.

1. Oral Roberts (wins out) 15-3
North Dakota State (wins 1 of 2) 15-3
3. Oakland (wins out) 13-5
4. IUPUI (splits two) 9-9
5. IPFW (wins 2 of 3) 8-10
Southern Utah (wins 1 of 3) 8-10
7. Western Illinois (splits) 7-11
8. SDSU (loses out) 6-12
9. Centenary (wins 1 of 3) 6-12
10. UMKC (loses 3) 3-15

The tiebreakers are too difficult to predict at this time. In this scenario the tiebreaker between Oral Roberts and NDSU will be based on where IPFW and SUU finish, which in this scenario finish tied. The tiebreaker between IPFW and SUU would be based on where ORU and NDSU finish, which is based on where they finish. Confused yet, I know I am. SDSU wins the tiebreaker with Centenary based on its split with IPFW this season.

Anybody have any better predictions?

1. North Dakota State (20-6, 14-2 Summit) — The Bison had their 11-game win streak snapped by Southern Utah, which was also their first home loss of the season. NDSU allowed the Thunderbirds to shoot 54.9 percent and had just five bench points. The Bison followed that up with a convincing win over SDSU, with Ben Woodside netting 32 points. NDSU will play at Wisconsin-Milwaukee Saturday as part of the ESPN Bracketbusters. It appears the league race could come down to NDSU’s game at Oral Roberts on the final day of the regular season.
2. Oral Roberts (13-13, 11-3) — The Golden Eagles swept Western Illinois and IUPUI last week. The win over the Leathernecks wasn’t pretty, but Oral Roberts had four players in double figures against IUPUI. The Golden Eagles also hit eight 3-pointers, which was just the second time they have hit eight or more since Dec. 17. If Oral Roberts can sweep its two-game road trip this week, it could set up a showdown for the regular-season title with NDSU, but a loss could open the door to Oakland for second place.
3. Oakland (16-11, 9-5) — The Golden Grizzlies completed a season-sweep of IPFW and shot 62.3 percent in the win. Four players scored in double figures led by Keith Benson’s 23. Johnathon Jones had a school record 15 assists against the Mastodons. OU hits the road this week looking to gain some confidence on the road. The Grizzlies are just 2-5 on the road in conference play. Oakland needs help, but still has a shot at the second seed in the conference tournament.
4. Southern Utah (9-16, 7-7) — The Thunderbirds blew a second-half lead at SDSU, but followed that up by shocking NDSU. Davis Baker averaged 24.5 points last week to earn Player of the Week honors. Baker hit a jumper with 37 seconds left to give the Thunderbirds the lead for good against NDSU. Southern Utah leads the nation in free-throw percentage, shooting 80.4 percent and shot 12-for-12 against NDSU. The Thunderbirds sit in fourth place and have a shot at third beginning this week when they hosts Oral Roberts and Centenary.
5. IUPUI (14-12, 7-8) — The Jaguars split a pair of road games last week and can now clinch a spot in the conference tournament with a win over IPFW Thursday. Junior Robert Glenn averaged 21.5 points a game last week and is making a strong case to be an all-conference selection and Newcomer of the Year. Freshman Alex Young averaged 15.5 points after getting re-inserted into the starting lineup last week.
6. South Dakota State (12-16, 7-9) — The Jacks road winless streak in Summit League play reached 16 with the loss at North Dakota State Tuesday night. SDSU plays at Cal Poly Saturday before concluding the regular season with road games at Oral Roberts and Centenary. The Jacks will likely have to win at least one of those road games to get in the conference tournament, but could back in with a pair of losses. Sophomore Dale Moss has started the last two games and averaged 21 points a game.
7. Western Illinois (9-17, 6-9) — The Leathernecks win at Centenary could prove to be what gets them in the conference tournament. WIU now has three home games left and could get in with one win, but may need two because of the tiebreaker situation. David DuBois scored 19 points in the win over Centenary after missing the Oral Roberts game due to injury. The Leathernecks nearly upset the Golden Eagles without DuBois before falling by three.
8. IPFW (10-15, 5-9) — The Mastodons loss to Oakland hurts, but they still control their own destiny. IPFW holds the tiebreaker over Centenary after sweeping the Gents this season and can complete a sweep of Western Illinois with a win Saturday. The win over Oral Roberts is also huge for tiebreakers purposes. David Carson scored 18 points in his final visit to Oakland, but shot 6-for-16 from the field.
9. Centenary (7-19, 5-9) — It was just three weeks ago that the Gents were the surprise team in the league, winners of four of their last five and 5-4 in the league. Centenary has since dropped five straight, including three at home, and are fighting to make the conference tournament. The trio of Nick Stallings, Gary Redus and Chase Adams continue to shoulder the load offensively with very little help from anyone else.
10. UMKC (6-21, 2-12) — The Roos have now lost eight in a row and 13 of their last 14. UMKC is now playing for pride and next season when it hosts Centenary and Oral Roberts this week. Hopefully senior guard Dane Brumagin, who did not make the Roos’ trip to the Dakotas last week because of a sore Achilles’, is healthy to play in the final home game of his career.

1. North Dakota State (18-5, 12-1 Summit) — It was a great week for the Bison, who have now won 10 straight. NDSU won two road games handily and its main competition for the league title, Oral Roberts, lost two games. The Bison won their two road games in two different ways. NDSU won a defensive struggle at Western Illinois, where the team shot just 38.8 percent and leading scorer Ben Woodside went 0-for-12 from the field and scored just seven points. NDSU followed that up by scoring 91 points at IUPUI, shooting 55.7 percent from the field and hitting 54.2 percent (13-for-24) of its 3-poitners. The Bison control their own destiny and have three of their five remaining league games at home.
2. Oral Roberts (11-13, 9-3) — The Golden Eagles may have let their chances at a fifth straight regular-season league title slip away last week. Oral Roberts had its nine-game win streak snapped by Oakland and then fell at IPFW. The Golden Eagles shot just 6-for-36 from 3-point range in the two losses, including 4-for-20 by Robert Jarvis. Oral Roberts shot just 33.3 percent from the field at IPFW and had just five assists. The Golden Eagles will try to rebound with two home games this week when they host Western Illinois and IUPUI.
3. Oakland (15-11, 8-5) — The Golden Grizzlies improved to 8-0 at home this season with double-digit victories over Oral Roberts and Centenary. Junior point guard Johnathon Jones had two double-doubles, averaging 15.5 points and 12.5 assists last week to earn Player of the Week honors. Jones now leads the nation in total assists with 183 and is fourth in the nation in assists per game (7.0). Sophomore center Keith Benson averaged 22.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks and senior guard Erik Kangas averaged 20 points a game last week. Kangas is now second in the nation in 3-pointers made (98) and fourth in 3-pointers per game (3.9).
4. IUPUI (13-11, 6-7) — The Jaguars, who allow a league best 62.8 points per game, gave up 91 points to NDSU and had their four-game win streak snapped. Junior Jon Avery is averaging 12 points and 6.3 rebounds in his last six games as a starter. Freshman Alex Young looks like he has hit the wall. He has failed to score in double figures in his last five games, averaging 4.6 points per game and has had his season average dip to 11.2 per game. The Jaguars have two road games this week and have by no means locked up a spot in the conference tournament.
5. Southern Utah (8-15, 6-6) — The Thunderbirds completed a sweep of UMKC and pulled to .500 in the league, good for fourth place. SUU had six players score in double figures led by 18 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks and two steals from John Clifford. The Thunderbirds shot 91.2 percent from the free-throw line (31-for-34), 52.3 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point range. SUU now heads to the Dakotas this week.
6. Centenary (7-17, 5-7) — The Gents lost a pair of road games to fall from fourth place to sixth place and are just a half game ahead of IPFW, SDSU and Western Illinois. Centenary averaged 62 points a game and shot just 32.7 percent (37-for-113) from the field in its two losses last week. The trio of Nick Stallings, Chase Adams and Gary Redus combined to score 87 points in the two losses, while the rest of the team combined to score 37 points.
7. IPFW (10-14, 5-8) — The Mastodons quickly showed any doubters that they aren’t going to lay down and die. IPFW won two home games last week, topping second-place Oral Roberts and then fourth-place Centenary. Junior Deilvez Yearby had a career day against the Golden Eagles, scoring a career-high 23 points, blocking a school-record seven shots and grabbing 10 rebounds. Sophomore Zach Plackmeier also scored a career-high, finishing with 22 points on 6-for-8 shooting. IPFW now has three-straight on the road starting with Oakland on Saturday and then its final two at home.
8. South Dakota State (10-15, 5-8) — The Jacks just keep finding ways to lose league games on the road, falling by eight at IUPUI and then losing on a half-court shot at the buzzer by Josh Rivers at Western Illinois. SDSU led the Leathernecks 59-52 with 3:02 left, but didn’t score the rest of the way. Clint Sargent went in for the last shot with the game tied, but had his shot blocked by David DuBois and the ball bounced to Rivers who sunk the half-courter. This is a huge week for the Jacks, who host their final two home games of the season against Southern Utah and UMKC. SDSU plays at North Dakota State, Oral Roberts and Centenary in its final three conference games.
9. Western Illinois (8-16, 5-8) — The Leathernecks barely escaped with a win against SDSU and the victory could prove to be the one that gets them in the conference tournament should they make it. WIU still has a lot of work to do and it starts with two road games this week, at Oral Roberts and at Centenary. The Leathernecks will need Josh Rivers, who found his shot against SDSU, finishing with 15 points. Senior David DuBois averaged 20.5 points and eight rebounds last week.
10. UMKC (6-19, 2-10) — Stick a fork in the Kangaroos, who are three games behind everyone else with five games left. UMKC fell by 12 points at Southern Utah and have now lost six straight and 11 of its last 12. Senior Dane Brumagin, who is battling a sore Achilles’ tendon, played just five minutes in the loss. A good sign for UMKC’s future is sophomore Bakari Lewis scored 23 points and freshman Latreze Mushat added 16 points and five rebounds in the loss.

The ESPN bracketbusters pairing were announced yesterday and North Dakota State will play at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and South Dakota State will play at Cal Poly. Neither will be a televised game.

Now I know Oral Roberts has participated in this before and now NDSU and SDSU are this year. The question is how do teams get picked? When will Oakland get a chance? What about IUPUI, which won 26 games last year? Why all of a sudden is Oral Roberts, the three-time defending champion, no longer involved? I don’t have an answer, but I sure hope it’s not because the Summit League won’t accommodate the organizers of the bracketbusters.

Teams don’t want to play three games in a week during the conference season so it appears NDSU and SDSU were picked because they play just one game the week of bracketbusters this season. No I don’t know if the Summit League planned it that way or it just happened to work out that way. The answer doesn’t really matter because the league should be offering all of its teams for this. The entire Mid-American Conference and Horizon League are part of this and accommodate it. So why not the entire Summit League? Now I know the organizers might not want the whole league, but I’m sure they would rather have Oral Roberts, IUPUI and Oakland than some of the teams involved.

The Summit League is unique because there is more travel involved, but the bracketbusters is a great opportunity because even if you don’t get a TV or home game, you are guaranteed a home game the following year with the team you go play. The Summit League needs to do whatever it can to have as many of its teams as possible in it, not just make two teams available. Maybe I’m off-base on this, but it’s just a thought I had when I looked at the RPI of some of the teams involved. I’m curious how other people feel about this?

Update: Looked into it a little further and the entire WAC, Metro Atlantic, Big West, Missouri Valley, Colonial and Ohio Valley participate in this. Teams with RPIs in the 300s like SE Missouri St. (333), Northern Illinois (331) and Eastern Michigan (330) are in it.

1. North Dakota State (16-5, 10-1 Summit) — The Bison picked up their first-ever win over Oakland thanks to a late run and then dominated IPFW last week. Senior Mike Nelson had a huge 21-point effort against the Grizzlies, his first 20-point game since Nov. 29, and played solid defense on Erik Kangas. Nelson followed that up with 10 points in 24 minutes against IPFW. NDSU has a big road trip this week to Western Illinois and IUPUI and might be able to gain some ground on Oral Roberts with a pair of wins.
2. Oral Roberts (11-11, 9-1) — The Golden Eagles remain undefeated in 2009 and their victory at Centenary was their eighth straight. The Gents had no answer for Marcus Lewis, who had 21 points on 10-for-14 shooting. Lewis is 21-for-27 from the field in his last two games. The Golden Eagles are now .500 for the first time since the second game of the regular season. Oral Roberts remains in the hunt for its fifth-straight regular-season league title and have two big road games this week, at Oakland and at IPFW.
3. Oakland (13-11, 6-5) — It was not a good week for the Golden Grizzlies, who were swept on their trip to the Dakotas. Oakland was tied 64-64 with North Dakota State with less than six minutes left before the Bison went on a 13-0 run to earn their first-ever win over Oakland. The Grizzlies then blew a 17-point second half lead at South Dakota State and fell in overtime. Oakland’s big men continued their hot play. Sophomore Keith Benson broke the single-season school record for blocks and averaged 15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.5 blocks per game last week and shot 14-for-17 from the field. Sophomore Will Hudson averaged 14 points and 5.5 rebounds, and shot 12-for-15 from the field.
4. Centenary (7-15, 5-5) — The Gents 71 points against Oral Roberts broke the Golden Eagles’ nine-game streak of holding opponents under 70 points, but the Gents still lost their 12th straight to Oral Roberts. The loss also snapped Centenary’s four-game winning streak. Leading scorer Nick Stallings (16.4 per game) scored just five points in the loss to ORU. Sophomore Gary Redus scored a career-high 23 points in the game, his first 20-point game since he scored 21 against Troy back on Nov. 20.
5. IUPUI (12-10, 5-6) — The Jaguars picked up a pair of road victories last week and have now won three-straight to pull themselves out of the league cellar. IUPUI is currently in a three-way tie for fifth place and has two home games this week. The Jaguars won easily at Southern Utah, which is typically a tough place to win, but the Jaguars have won six of their last seven trips there. Junior Robert Glenn is averaging 19 points and 7.3 rebounds during IUPUI’s three-game win streak.
6. South Dakota State (10-13, 5-6) — The Jacks protected their homecourt nicely last week with a pair of wins. SDSU rallied from 17 down in the second half to beat Oakland in overtime. It was the Jacks third overtime game in their last four, but their first overtime victory. Junior Kai Williams became the first SDSU player to score 1,000 points all at the Division I level with his 15 points against Oakland Saturday. Garrett Callahan is just 45 points away from becoming the second player to do so. SDSU hits the road this week still looking for its first Summit League road victory in school history.
7. Southern Utah (7-15, 5-6) — The Thunderbirds split a pair of home games last week. SUU led by as many as 15 in the second half against Western Illinois, but had to hold on late to win by one. Dave Marek hit all seven of his 3-point attempts against IUPUI and finished with 23 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Thunderbirds fell by 14. SUU hosts UMKC Saturday, but then plays four of its last six on the road.
8. Western Illinois (7-15, 4-7) — The Leathernecks snapped their six-game losing streak with a wild win at UMKC. WIU trailed by four with 42 seconds left, but UMKC committed four turnovers and the Leathernecks capitalized on each one to win by five, 56-51. WIU almost stole a second one at Southern Utah, but David DuBois missed a shot at the buzzer. It would have been the Leathernecks first win in Cedar City, they are now 0-12 all-time. WIU leads IPFW by one-game for the final conference tournament spot and host two home games this week.
9. IPFW (8-14, 3-8) — The trip to the Dakotas did not go well for the Mastodons. IPFW fell at South Dakota State by six, the same team it beat by 34 at home. The Mastodons then got embarrassed by 31 at North Dakota State and scored just 43 points, with senior David Carson scoring 22 of them. IPFW hosts two league games this week against Centenary and Oral Roberts and likely needs at least one win to stay in the conference tournament hunt.
10. UMKC (6-18, 2-9) — The Kangaroos are in disarray. UMKC lost second-leading scorer Reggie Hamilton, who asked to be released from his scholarship last week and was granted his request. Leading scorer Dane Brumagin missed both games last week with a sore Achilles’ heel. The Kangaroos somehow turned a four-point lead with 42 seconds against Western Illinois into a five-point loss. UMKC has lost five straight and now have three-straight road games and five of its last seven are on the road.

Things just continue to get worse for UMKC. The Kangaroos lost one of their best players in sophomore guard Reggie Hamilton, who asked and was granted a release from his scholarship. Hamilton was second on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game. Hamilton was one of UMKC coach Matt Brown's first recruits and averaged 11.7 points a game last season as a freshman. The last-place Kangaroos (6-16, 2-7) chances of making the conference tournament are now even longer without Hamilton.

I'm assuming Hamilton will try to transfer somewhere. The Harvey, Ill. native is a talented player and in my opinion was a future all-conference player. Fans on the UMKC message board have blamed Brown for running off Hamilton as well as other players. I don't know how true or untrue that is, but losing Hamilton is a big blow for UMKC. He was just a sophomore and looked like he had a bright future ahead of him along with Spencer Johnson

1. North Dakota State (10-5, 5-1 Summit) — Senior Brett Winkelman scored the final seven points of the game to lift the Bison over IUPUI, 55-52. Ben Woodside scored 26 points in a season-low 25 minutes in NDSU’s 17-point win over Western Illinois. The first-place Bison can give themselves some cushion in the league race and answer questions about their road toughness with games at Southern Utah and UMKC this week.
2. Oral Roberts (6-11, 4-1) — The Golden Eagles won their 30th straight conference home game with an overtime victory over Oakland Saturday. Oral Roberts has won three straight to double its win total on the season. Marcus Lewis picked up his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds against Oakland, while Kevin Ford missed getting his fourth straight double-double finishing with seven points and seven rebounds. The Golden Eagles have a pair of road games this week, at IUPUI Thursday and at Western Illinois Saturday
3. Oakland (10-9, 3-3) — The Golden Grizzlies responded to an embarrassing 20-point loss at Centenary by nearly ending Oral Roberts’ conference home game winning streak before falling in overtime. Oakland has dug itself in a bit of a hole in the league race and will have to run off some wins to get back in it. The Grizzlies can start at IPFW Saturday. Oakland is playing short-handed with just eight scholarship players and three (freshmen Blake Cushingbery, Drew Maynard and Matt Samuels) failed to score against Oral Roberts.
4. Western Illinois (6-10, 3-2) — The Leathernecks suffered their first two league losses last week, falling at SDSU and NDSU. David DuBois had 24 points against the Bison and 21 against the Jacks, while Josh Rivers had 16 against NDSU and 15 against SDSU. No other Western Illinois player scored in double figures in either game. Western Illinois hosts Centenary and Oral Roberts this week.
5. IUPUI (9-7, 2-3) — The Jaguars nearly upset North Dakota State on the road, but then got embarrassed at South Dakota State. IUPUI is experiencing the ups and downs of a young team. Freshman Alex Young entered the week averaging 15 points a game, but scored just three against NDSU, which was just the second time all season he failed to reach double figures. Young then came off the bench for the first time all season against SDSU and had 10 points in the 20-point loss.
6. Southern Utah (5-11, 3-2) — The Thunderbirds three league wins have all come by exactly 16 points. Davis Baker and Tyler Quinney each scored 24 points in the Thunderbirds win at UMKC. Baker (18 points per game this season, 6.7 last season) has nearly tripled his scoring averaging from last year and Quinney (15.3 this season, 6.4 last season) has more than doubled his. Quinney earned player of the week honors for his efforts.
7. South Dakota State (8-10, 3-3) — Figuring out what Jackrabbits team will show up on a nightly basis is like trying to predict the weather. SDSU responded from its 34-point loss at IPFW last week with two dominating home victories. The first over then first-place Western Illinois, 64-55, and then a 20-point win over IUPUI. Both wins were at home and the Jacks remain winless all-time in Summit League road games, but something tells me the Jacks end that streak this week.
8. IPFW (7-10, 2-4) — The Mastodons held on for a win at Centenary on Saturday, but didn’t have a field goal in the final three minutes. IPFW hit four free throws in the final 20 seconds to hold on for the win. Freshman Jeremy Mixon had a career-high 20 points in the win. The Mastodons scored just 46 points in their loss at Oral Roberts and had just 19 at halftime. IPFW hosts Oakland, which is swept last season, on Saturday.
9. UMKC (5-13, 1-4) — The Kangaroos have lost four-straight league games after topping IPFW in their conference opener. Senior Dane Brumagin had 20 of UMKC’s 50 points in its 16-point home loss to Southern Utah. No other player had more than seven. The Kangaroos have to start turning things around if they want to make the league tournament and can start with two home games this week.
10. Centenary (3-14, 1-4) — The Gents put on an offensive display in their first home game of the season, a 20-point win over Oakland. Nick Stallings scored 20 points in the first half, which Centenary dominated 45-24. Stallings finished with 26 points in the win. The Gents trailed IPFW, 63-49, with just over three minutes left and went on a 13-1 run to pull with two, 64-62, but the Mastodons were able to hold on.

Expansion could be coming to The Summit League soon. The conference announced it would be visiting South Dakota on Jan. 20-21 in a press release. What this means I’m not sure, but I do know the conference wouldn’t announce it’s going if it wasn’t seriously considering adding South Dakota. The Coyotes are in their first year of Division I.

“We feel really good about it, but it's just another step — not the final step by any means," USD athletic director Joel Nielsen told the Argus-Leader. "I think, though, that we can make a strong case for the academic profile of our university and our geographic footprint fitting in with the current membership."

Apparently North Dakota, which is also in its first year of Division I is not being considered by The Summit League until it solves it’s issue with the Sioux nickname and logo.

“I’m not presenting any information to the (league’s) presidents council on the University of North Dakota until the logo issue is resolved one way or the other,” Summit League commissioner Tom Douple told the Grand Folks Hearld. “I don’t want it to be an issue for our members.”

Douple also told the Grand Folks Herald there is no timetable for expansion, “But we’re always looking at our options.”

If both Dakotas are added, and I wouldn’t be shocked if they both were, then the league could consider dividing into two six-team divisions. Time will tell what happens, but it should be interesting what the league does over the next few years.

1. Oakland (10-7, 3-1 Summit) — The Golden Grizzlies earned an impressive win over North Dakota State thanks to an Erik Kangas 3-pointer with 7.2 seconds left. It was a total team effort for Oakland, with Kangas limited due to a cramp in his calf. The Grizzlies need a healthy Kangas in the games coming up after losing Derick Nelson for the season to a medical redshirt. Oakland has three straight road games starting with at Centenary on Thursday and at Oral Roberts on Sunday.
2. North Dakota State (8-5, 3-1) — Senior forward Brett Winkelman was phenomenal in the Bison’s heartbreaking loss at Oakland, scoring 33 points despite battling a stomach virus. Something tells me after three straight close losses to the Grizzlies, the Bison can’t wait until they host Oakland on Jan. 29 in what might not be the final meeting between the schools this season. NDSU hosts a pair of league contenders this week in IUPUI and Western Illinois.
3. IUPUI (9-5, 2-1) — The Jaguars won a pair of home league games, topping UMKC and Southern Utah. Junior forward Robert Glenn averaged 15.5 points off the bench in the two wins. Freshman Alex Young leads the team in scoring at 15.2 per game. IUPUI heads to the Dakotas this week, where it swept its two games last season.
4. Western Illinois (6-8, 3-0) — The Leathernecks stand as the only team undefeated in league play after home wins over UMKC and Southern Utah. Half of Western Illinois’ total wins this season are in league play. Senior David DuBois is averaging 19.3 points per game in three league games and junior Josh Rivers has established himself as solid second option, scoring in double figures in five straight games.
5. Oral Roberts (4-11, 2-1) — The Golden Eagles easily defeated a road weary Centenary team and will be looking for their first back-to-back wins of the season when they host IPFW on Thursday. Junior forward Kevin Ford is averaging 11.1 points and 8.9 rebounds in the seven games since he became eligible.
6. IPFW (6-9, 1-3) — The Mastodons embarrassed South Dakota State, 100-66, to earn their first league win of the season. Senior forward David Carson outscored the Jacks by himself in the first half, 20-18. Carson is averaging 20.5 points in four league games. After starting league play 0-3, IPFW has work to do and will start with games at Oral Roberts and Centenary this week.
7. Southern Utah (4-11, 2-2) — The Thunderbirds fell to .500 in league play with two losses last week, at IUPUI and at Western Illinois. Junior guard Davis Baker is averaging 21.3 points and senior forward Tyler Quinney 17.5 points in four league games. Southern Utah plays at UMKC on Saturday.
8. UMKC (5-12, 1-3) — The Kangaroos lost two close road games, both by three points last week. UMKC was down big in both games and rallied back, but couldn’t complete the comeback. Senior Dane Brumagin is averaging 23.8 points per game in four league games this season.
9. South Dakota State (6-10, 1-3) — The Jacks are now 0-11 all-time in Summit League road games after a pair of road losses last week. SDSU hit a school-record 15 3-pointers in a 86-81 loss at Oakland, but then got embarrassed at IPFW by 34 points. The Jacks host two league games this week.
10. Centenary (2-13, 0-3) — The Gents concluded their 15-straight games on the road with a 82-59 loss at Oral Roberts. Centenary will host Oakland Thursday in its first home game of the season in the newly renovated Gold Dome. Senior Nick Stallings surpassed 1,000 career points in the loss to the Golden Eagles. Stallings is averaging 17 points a game this season.

1. Oakland (8-6, 1-1) — The Golden Grizzlies regain the top spot thanks to their road win over Green Bay, a solid second half in a loss to Michigan, which is ranked No. 24 in the latest Associated Press poll and a win at Eastern Michigan. Sophomore center Keith Benson scored a career-high 23 points against Michigan and is averaging 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for the Grizzlies, who have won five of their last six. Oakland plays its final non-conference game against No. 11 Michigan State at The Palace on Saturday.
2. North Dakota State (7-4, 2-0 Summit) — The Bison lost by just four at USC, 61-57. NDSU led by five at halftime and for most of the second half before the Trojans rallied to win in the final two minutes. As impressive as the showing was, North Dakota State has yet to prove it can win on the road, with its biggest road win at Northern Arizona. The Bison were tough at home last season, but really struggled on the road. A good indication is NDSU beat Northern Arizona by seven on the road earlier this season, but then beat them by 22 at home on Monday.
3. IUPUI (6-4, 0-1) — Leroy Nobles hit a layup at the buzzer to lift the Jaguars over Seton Hall and to their first win in school history over a Big East opponent. It was just the second loss of the season for the Pirates, who have beat USC and Virginia Tech this season. Freshman Alex Young led the Jaguars with 18 points and six rebounds and Billy Pettiford added 12 points and 11 rebounds. I sat next to an NBA scout at Oakland’s game Saturday and one guy he brought up in The Summit League is Young.
4. UMKC (5-8, 1-1) — Sophomore Spencer Johnson's streak of five straight double-doubles came to an end in a, 76-72, home loss to Texas-San Antonio. Dane Brumagin scored 26 in the loss, but was the only player in double figures. The Kangaroos won at Eastern Washington last week and fell by 15 at Northwestern. UMKC will host SIU-Edwardsville Sunday in its final non-conference game.
5. Southern Utah (3-8, 2-0) — Picking a team to rank fifth was tough. Teams four through nine are pretty even when you look at their results, but the Thunderbirds get the nod because of their league record. Southern Utah has still not beaten a Division I team in its non-conference schedule. The Thunderbirds have two games left to try, at UNLV Tuesday and at home against Sacramento State Saturday.
6. Western Illinois (4-7, 1-0) — The Leathernecks fell by one at Southeast Missouri State. Josh Rivers led WIU with 17 points and five assists. The Leathernecks wrap up their non-conference season Saturday at Iowa then restart conference play with two home league games (Southern Utah and UMKC). WIU could put themselves in a favorable position in the league if it can protect its home court in those two games.
7. Oral Roberts (3-10, 1-1) — Do I think Oral Roberts is the seventh best team in the Summit League? No. But the Golden Eagles have really struggled in their non-conference season, going 2-10 so I can’t justify ranking them in the top half of the league. Oral Roberts has had just two home games and should fare well once the conference season starts, but there is no guarantees. The Golden Eagles salvaged their trip to Puerto Rico with a 20-point win over South Florida (4-7) after falling to Wright State and Murray State. Oral Roberts plays its final non-conference at USC Dec. 28.
8. IPFW (4-8, 0-2) — The Mastodons played No. 10 Purdue even in the second half, 33-34, in a 70-55 loss Monday. It was an improvement for IPFW, which got embarrassed in the second half at Nebraska, getting outscored 46-14 in the half before falling 75-48. Leading scorer David Carson has just five points total in IPFW’s last two games. The Mastodons wrap up their non-conference season at North Florida Sunday.
9. South Dakota State (5-8, 1-1) — Freshman guard Griffan Callahan, who transferred from North Dakota, had 14 points and six rebounds off the bench in his debut for the Jacks, but his team fell 72-55 to Northern Iowa. Kai Williams continues to come off the bench and had just two points against Northern Iowa. Second-leading scorer Clint Sargent came off the bench and scored 11 points. SDSU coach Scott Nagy has now started 10 players, two or more games this season.
10. Centenary (2-10, 0-2) — Twelve straight road games down, three to go for the Gents. Centenary fell 73-51 at Kansas State. Nick Stallings had 27 points and seven rebounds, Anthony Gatlin had seven points and no other Centenary player had more than four. The Gents play at Texas Tech Tuesday and then at Missouri on Dec. 30 to wrap up their non-conference schedule. Centenary’s final road game of 15 straight to start the season is at Oral Roberts on Jan. 2.

1. North Dakota State (5-3, 2-0 Summit) — Senior guard Ben Woodside poured in 60 points in a triple overtime loss to Stephen F. Austin, which is ranked No. 11 in the mid-major top 25. Woodside tied ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich’s record of 30 made free throws in the loss. The Bison recovered to beat Georgia Southern the next night, led by 31 points and 10 assists from Woodside. NDSU hosts Valley City State on Thursday before playing at USC on Saturday.
2. Oakland (6-5, 1-1) — The Grizzlies finally had a week to practice at home after a grueling nine-straight road games to start the season. Oakland easily defeated Rochester College Sunday, but senior guard Erik Kangas tweaked his injured ankle in the win. The Grizzlies have two tough games this week, at Green Bay on Thursday and then they host Michigan at The Palace of Auburn Hills (home of the Detroit Pistons).
3. Oral Roberts (2-7, 1-1) — Losing by 16 at North Carolina is nothing to be ashamed of and transfer Kevin Ford (6-9, 240) had 10 points and six rebounds in his Golden Eagles debut. Oral Roberts is likely better than its 2-7 record indicates, but we should know more after this week, when the Golden Eagles play at New Mexico Wednesday and then three games (Wright St., Murray St., South Florida) at the San Juan Shootout.
4. UMKC (4-8, 1-1) — The Kangaroos lost by five at Loyola Chicago, which is undefeated at home this season and fell at Northwestern on Monday. Sophomore Spencer Johnson had 22 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to the Wildcats. Johnson is averaging 17 points and 12.3 rebounds per game in his last four games. UMKC plays at Eastern Washington Thursday.
5. IUPUI (5-4, 0-1) — The Jaguars were beating No. 20 Arizona State 34-18 at halftime before falling by one in overtime. Senior Gary Patterson and freshman Alex Young each scored 19 points in the road loss. Young is averaging 14.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1 steal per game and has to be the leading candidate for Newcomer of the Year so far this season.
6. Southern Utah (3-6, 2-0) — After opening up league play 2-0, the Thunderbirds lost two straight non-conference games (at UC-Riverside and home to Weber State), both by four points. SUU plays a pair of in-state rivals this week, hosting Utah State on Wednesday and at Utah Valley on Saturday.
7. IPFW (4-6, 0-2) — The Mastodons scored what head coach Dane Fife called a historic win by beating Valparaiso for the first time and in convincing fashion on the road, 63-46. IPFW followed that up by falling to No. 24 Marquette, 69-50. David Carson averaged 16.5 points per game in the two games. The Mastodons still have three games left on their current seven-game road streak.
8. Western Illinois (4-6, 1-0) — Eastern Illinois snapped the Leathernecks three-game winning streak with a 63-56 win. In the loss senior Josh Rivers hit six 3-pointers on way to scoring a career-high 24 points. David DuBois (12 points) was the only other WIU player to score more than six points. The Leathernecks play at Southeast Missouri State on Sunday, which they defeated, 71-66, at home earlier this season.
9. South Dakota State (4-7, 1-1) — The Jacks fell at Minnesota, but rallied to start the second half before the Gophers regained control of the game. SDSU also fell by four at Denver. Junior Kai Williams continues to struggle, he has come off the bench the last two games and is averaging 4.25 points per game in his last four. The Jacks have lost three straight and host Cal-State Bakersfield Tuesday and at Northern Iowa Sunday.
10. Centenary (2-9, 0-2) — The Gents continue to struggle as they play 15-straight on the road to open the season. Centenary fell by six at Louisiana Tech. Nick Stalling scored 25 points in the Gents fourth straight loss. Centenary plays at Kansas State Saturday.

Since all the teams are between 8-11 games into the season, I thought in addition to the rankings I will post my all-Summit League first team as if my ballot had to be turned in today. I will update it periodically throughout the season.

Summit League first team
*Ben Woodside, North Dakota State — Woodside's 26.9 points per game puts him second in the nation, tied with Chicago State's David Holston and behind Davidson's Stephen Curry (31.9). He also leads the league assists (7.6), is shooting 51.4 percent from 3-point range, hitting 2.4 per game and is shooting 85 percent from the free-throw line. He is the early favorite to win Player of the Year honors.
Robert Jarvis, Oral Roberts — Jarvis is second in the league in scoring (19.2), second in 3-pointers per game (3.0), is shooting 80 percent from the free-throw line and averaging 38.4 minutes per game. Only concern is his field-goal percentage.
Brett Winkelman, North Dakota State — The senior forward is fourth in the league in scoring (18.1) and leads the league in rebounding (9.0). He is shooting 51.4 percent from the field and his 1.9 steals per game is second in the league.
Dane Brumagin, UMKC — The senior sharpshooter is fifth in the league in scoring (17.5), fourth in free-throw percentage (87.8 percent), fourth in steals (1.8) and fifth in 3-pointers per game (2.5)
Johnathon Jones, Oakland — The junior point guard is averaging 14.6 points per game, second in the league in assists (5.2), eighth in steals (1.5) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.7). He also leads the league in minutes played (422) and minutes per game (38.4).
Davis Baker, Southern Utah — Baker is third in the league in scoring (18.6), leads the league in free-throw percentage (91.9) and is among the league leaders in field goal percentage (47.6) and three-point percentage (39.4). He also averages 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
*Player of the Year

Others considered (in no order): David DuBois, Western Illinois; Reggie Hamilton, UMKC; Erik Kangas, Oakland; David Carson, IPFW; Nick Stallings, Centenary; Garrett Callahan, South Dakota State; Clint Sargent, South Dakota State; Alex Young, IUPUI; Gary Patterson IUPUI.

IPFW 63, Valparaiso 46
The Mastodons beat Valparaiso for the first time in seven attempts, doing so in convincing fashion and at Valpo on Wednesday night. It was the worst home loss for the Crusaders since 2003-04 when they were beat by Cincinnati by 19.
“I would say for our school, it’s a pretty big milestone,” IPFW coach Dane Fife told The Journal Gazette. “This is Valpo. Most of our Indiana kids remember when Valpo was put on the basketball map and Valpo has stayed there. Valpo is a program with a great tradition. I think it’s a big win for our guys, and it also stopped a three-game losing streak for us.”
Senior forward David Carson led IPFW (4-5) with 16 points and nine rebounds, junior Deilvez Yearby added 13 points and eight rebounds and guard Nick Daniels finished with 13 points.
The Mastodons led 31-18 at halftime, but the Crusaders (3-5) started the second half on an 8-2 run to pull within five, 33-28. IPFW responded with a 10-2 run to push the lead back to 12, 43-30. From there the Mastodons led by as many as 23 and never less than 10.
“We told them, ‘They’re going to come out and give us their best shot,’ ” Fife told the Journal Gazette. “We made some silly mistakes at the start. I remember Dave (Carson) saying in the huddle – I didn’t have to do any talking – Dave said in the huddle, ‘Let’s go now. Let’s get it going.’ And we came down and essentially built our lead back up to double digits and never let go.”

Western Illinois 71, Southeast Missouri State 66
The Leathernecks (4-5) won their third straight thanks to some clutch free-throw shooting. Western Illinois shot 8-for-9 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes. Senior David DuBois, who was 1-for-5 from the free-throw line prior to the final two minutes, shot 4-for-4 down the stretch.
"Yeah, I missed those three in a row earlier," DuBois told The Macomb Journal. "But I just stuck to my routine, calmed down and knocked (the others) down.”
DuBois finished with 25 points and five rebounds. Junior guard David Nurse finished with 16 points and five assists and redshirt freshman Ceola Clark had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench. The Leathernecks had 22 assists on 26 baskets, led by seven assists from senior guard Josh Rivers.
Western Illinois’ student section (the Purple Haze) was apparently very vocal in the victory, but did draw some interesting comments from head coach Jim Molinari.
“I told them I want them to cheer but they have to respect our opponents," Molinari told the Macomb Journal. "I hope the 'Purple Haze' becomes a part of our tradition here."

"It was great to hear the crowd," DuBois said. "They gave us a lot of confidence and momentum. Coach (Molinari) has told us if we keep doing the right things, people will come to games. It's showing."

Minnesota 74, South Dakota State 60
The Jackrabbits rallied back from a 19-point deficit to cut Minnesota’s lead to five in the second half, but couldn’t complete the comeback and hand Minnesota (9-0) its first loss of the season.
“I fully believe you play the way you think," coach Scott Nagy told the Argus Leader. “Our kids just don't fully believe they're as good as they are. I don't know how to help them get over that hurdle. But it's costing us games.”
Nagy attempted to switch things up by having two regular starters (sophomore guard Clint Sargent and junior forward Kai Williams) come off the bench and started redshirt freshman Josh Cassady and sophomore guard Dale Moss in their place.
Sargent responded with a career-high 25 points in 29 minutes, but Williams had just four points in 30 minutes and shot 2-for-12 from the field. Williams, who was the Jacks leading scorer last season at 14 points a game, is averaging just 9.9 points a game this season and four points a game in his last three.
Nagy, whose squad is 4-6 this season, vented some of his frustration after the game.
"Once they settle down, it's clear that we've got some players, we're moving in the right direction," Nagy, whose club dropped a six-point decision in Minnesota last year told the Argus Leader. "But this had got to end. Nobody is going to hand us a game. Somehow, someway you have to decide enough is enough and do something about it."

Big weekend
Summit League teams will be playing in some big games this upcoming weekend.
Oral Roberts will face off with No. 1 North Carolina on Saturday at 6 p.m. with the game being aired on ESPN2.
IPFW travels to No. 24 Marquette Saturday.
North Dakota State will play two games as part of the Drake Hy-vee Classic, with one on Friday against Stephen F. Austin and another Saturday night.
Western Illinois will face in-state rival Eastern Illinois on Saturday. Centenary will also face an in-state rival when it plays at Louisiana Tech Saturday. UMKC will play at Horizon League foe Loyola-Chicago, while South Dakota State plays at Denver.
On Sunday, IUPUI plays at No. 20 Arizona State, while Oakland hosts Rochester College.
And the Summit League’s version of a Monday night game to cap off the weekend will be when UMKC plays at Northwestern, which will air on the Big Ten Network.

1. North Dakota State (4-2, 2-0 Summit) — The Bison are always tough at home and picked up a pair of Summit League wins at home last week. Senior Brett Winkelman averaged an impressive 23 points and 13 rebounds in the two wins. NDSU plays in the Drake Hy-Vee Classic this weekend.
2. Oakland (5-5, 1-1) — The loss at Southern Utah knocks the Grizzlies out of the top spot in the power rankings, but the trip to Cedar City is always a tough one. Sophomore center Keith Benson averaged 19 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in his last two games. The Grizzlies have some much-needed practice time this week before hosting Rochester College Sunday.
3. Oral Roberts (2-6, 1-1) — A poor second half cost the Golden Eagles against NDSU, but they rebounded with a convincing win over South Dakota State. Oral Roberts lost a close one at home to Arkansas-Little Rock and play at No. 1 North Carolina Saturday. Senior guard Robert Jarvis is averaging 18.4 points a game and 17.1 shots per game.
4. UMKC (4-6, 1-1) — The Kangaroos rallied to take the lead with less than a minute left against Oakland, but couldn’t pull it out. UMKC rebounded to beat IPFW by eight. Senior guard Dane Brumagin averaged 28.5 points a game in the two league games, while sophomore forward Spencer Johnson averaged 16 points and 11.5 rebounds.
5. Southern Utah (3-5, 2-0) —The Thunderbirds picked up their first two wins over Division I opponents with two convincing league wins at home. SUU beat both Oakland and IPFW by 16 points. Tyler Quinney averaged 23.5 points in the two wins, while Davis Baker averaged 21.5 points.
6. Western Illinois (3-5, 1-0) — The Leathernecks have won two straight after a 10-point road win at IUPUI and a two-point win over Texas-Pan American in Las Vegas. WIU also took Coastal Carolina to overtime in Las Vegas before falling by nine. Senior David DuBois (17 points per game) is the only player on the team averaging in double figures.
7. IUPUI (5-3, 0-1) — The Jaguars really struggled in a 10-point home loss to Western Illinois. IUPUI scored just 48 points and senior guard Gary Patterson was held scoreless in 33 minutes. The only bright spot was Wabash Valley J.C. transfer Robert Glenn scoring 17 points, his most since he scored 19 points against Northeastern in the season opener.
8. IPFW (3-5, 0-2) — The two December league games were not kind to the Mastodons. IPFW was down by as many as 10 and never led in the second half before losing by eight at UMKC and lost by 16 at Southern Utah. Two of the Mastodons three wins are against Eastern Illinois, with the other being over IU East. Senior forward David Carson is leading the team in scoring at 15.1 per game.
9. South Dakota State (4-5, 1-1) — The Jackrabbits split a pair of league home games. Junior guard Garrett Callahan averaged 19 points a game in the two games and is averaging 18.6 on the season. The Jacks play two road games this week, at Minnesota on Wednesday and at Denver on Saturday.
10. Centenary (2-8, 0-2) — The trip to the Dakotas is never easy and did not go well for the Gents. Centenary lost by 13 at SDSU and by 15 at NDSU. The loss at North Dakota State was the Gents’ 10th straight road game and they still have five more road games to go before hosting Oakland on Jan. 8 in their first home game of the season.

North Dakota State 83, Oral Roberts 75
The Bison used a strong second half to defeat three-time defending league champion and preseason favorite Oral Roberts. NDSU (3-2, 1-0 Summit League) trailed by two at halftime, but started the second half on a 12-0 run to take a 40-30 lead.
Oral Roberts refused to go away, fighting back and taking the lead twice. The Golden Eagles trailed by just one, 68-67, with 3:50 left, but the Bison then went on an 11-2 run to put the game out of reach.
“I thought it was an entertaining game, especially if you’re a Bison fan,” Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton told NDSU Athletics. “Both teams played very well on offense, especially the second half. I can’t say the same thing about the defense though. But give them credit, they’re a very good offensive team. I’m disappointed how we came out the second half. It’s very important to establish right away in the second half, and we didn’t do that. We battled back, and even took the lead at one point. Give those kids credits, they stepped up and hit some tough, tough shots and they were able to win this game tonight.”
The game between league favorites also drew an excited 4,165 fans to the Bison Sports Arena.
“Other than our place, this is by far the best atmosphere we have in this league,” Sutton told the Forum. “It was certainly an entertaining game.”
The Bison had five players score in double figures led by Ben Woodside’s 24 points and eight assists. Brett Winkelman added 20 points (18 in the second half) and 12 rebounds and Mike Nelson had 15 points.
“Obviously, at home we want to defend our home court,” Winkelman said. “Our confidence is sky high right now after that second half. We came out strong and we were knocking down shots.”
The early win over Oral Roberts is also huge for the Bison because now the worst they can do is split with the Golden Eagles.
“It’s important, because if you lose this one you have to go to Oral Roberts to try and get the split, which is hard to do,” North Dakota State coach Saul Phillips said. “This will be a completely different team the next time we see them. A kid like (Dominique) Morrison has had a significant impact on that team. I don’t know if you could ask for a true freshman to do more.”
Morrison led the Golden Eagles (1-5, 0-1) with 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Senior guard Robert Jarvis added 18 points, but shot 6-for-19 from the field, and Marcus Lewis had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Sutton didn’t have any complaints about his team’s offense, but was disappointed in his team’s defense in the second half.
“I told my guys it’s not a 20-minute game, it’s a 40-minute game,” Sutton said. “We need to be able to defend for long periods of time, and we haven’t been able to do that. It’ll take time to improve our defense, and we're learning, but it could be a struggle if we don’t learn quickly.”

Southern Utah 78, IPFW 62
Led by 21 points and seven rebounds from Davis Baker, the Thunderbirds improved to 2-0 in the Summit League. Southern Utah shot 57 percent and had four players finish in double figures. Dave Marek had 14 points and seven assists, true freshman Jake Nielson scored 14 points and Tyler Quinney added 12 points.
“The thing I was pleased with was that we were playing as a team,” Southern Utah coach Roger Reid told the Spectrum. “It’s tough to defend a team that has four or five guys that can score. We were getting everybody involved. Seventeen assists) means we’re an unselfish team. That means the players are looking to give their buddies an open shot.”
David Carson led IPFW with 20 points and shot 6-for-8 from the field. Deilvez Yearby added 13 points and Ben Botts finished with 10 points.

South Dakota State 71, Centenary 58
The Jacks (4-4, 1-0) used a dominate performance on the boards, 43-28, to start off Summit League play with a victory.
"Our goal is to outrebound every team we play by 10,” South Dakota State coach Scott Nagy told the Argus-Leader. “I can count on my hand in the years that I've been here - I'm on my 14th (year) - how may times we've lost when we've out-rebounded (a team) by 10. You're just not going to lose games when you do that."
Junior Garrett Callahan finished with 20 points and five rebounds, sophomore Anthony Cordove added 15 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore Dale Moss had 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.
“This was a big game for our kids," Nagy told the Argus-Leader. “And I felt like it was slipping away. But our guys did a nice job of pulling themselves back together. And we were fortunate Dale Moss showed up today.”
Junior Chase Adams led Centenary (2-7, 0-1) with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Senior Nick Stallings added 10 points and seven rebounds and sophomore Roman Tubner finished with 10 points for the Gents, who shot 38 percent from the field.

1. Oakland (3-4) — The Grizzlies proved they can win without both Derick Nelson and Erik Kangas in their win over Delaware State and then Kangas returned with six 3-pointers in their win over Southeast Missouri State. Oakland will play its first home game Sunday against Toledo, but first must play the final two games of a nine straight on the road.
2. North Dakota State (2-2) — The Bison picked up a nice win at Northern Arizona before falling at Minnesota. NDSU kicks off league play by hosting Oral Roberts. The Bison’s big three (Ben Woodside, Brett Winkelman and Mike Nelson) are averaging 52.8 points per game.
3. IUPUI (4-2) — The Jaguars have won three straight (IU East, Eastern Illinois and Western Michigan) and host Indiana-South Bend Tuesday before kicking off league play. Senior Gary Patterson returned in IUPUI’s win over the Broncos and scored 16 points.
4. IPFW (3-3) — The Mastodons beat Eastern Illinois on a buzz-beater by David Carson, but then lost on a buzzer-beater to Ball State Monday. Carson leads IPFW in scoring at 14.7 points per game. IPFW plays at Southern Utah and at UMKC to open league play.
5. Oral Roberts (1-4) — The Golden Eagles still don’t have a win over a Division I opponent, have lost three straight on the road and have to go to the Dakotas to start league play. Senior guard Robert Jarvis picked up Summit League player of the week honors after averaging 25 points a game last week. Jarvis is averaging 20 points a game on the season.
6. UMKC (3-5) — The Roos went 2-3 during their trip to Florida, beating Bradley and Florida Gulf Coast and falling to Florida Atlantic, Richmond and Florida. Sophomore Reggie Hamilton is averaging 17.9 points and 4.5 assists per game.
7. Centenary (2-6) — The Gents lost by just six to LSU, 64-58, and followed that up with a win over Alcorn State and a six-point loss to Northwestern State in overtime Monday. Centenary kicks off conference play with a trip to the Dakotas.
8. South Dakota State (3-4) — The Jacks went 1-1 in the Cancun Challenge with a win over Central Arkansas and a two-point loss to Central Florida. Juniors Kai Williams and Garrett Callahan both averaged 18 points a game in Cancun.
9 Western Illinois (2-5) — A David DuBois layup lifted the Leathernecks over Texas-Pan American in the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas. WIU also lost in overtime to Coastal Carolina in Las Vegas. DuBois is averaging 16.9 points per game and is the only Leatherneck player averaging in double figures.
10. Southern Utah (1-4) — The Thunderbirds put a scare into Boise State, but weren’t able to capture their first win over a Division I opponent. SUU played much better against Boise State than it did in a 10-point loss to Division II Seattle Pacific.