Five NSIC basketball teams make NCAA Division II tournament fields

March 8, 2021 at 5:17AM

Three men's teams and two women's teams from the NSIC were named to the NCAA Division II tournament field on Sunday.

In the men's bracket, Northern State (18-1) is one of eight No. 1 seeds and will play host to the Central Regional in Aberdeen, S.D. NSIC men's tournament runner-up Minnesota State Moorhead (10-4) and Wayne State (11-6) will also compete in the Central Regional.

Wayne State, the No. 4 seed, and MSU Moorhead, the No. 5 seed, will meet in the first round on Saturday. The winner will meet Northern State. The other seeds are No. 2 Northwest Missouri State, No. 3 Washburn and No. 6 Missouri Western.

NSIC women's tournament champion Minnesota Duluth and tournament runner-up St. Cloud State will play in the Central Regional in Warrensburg, Mo. The Bulldogs (13-1), the No. 3 seed, will play No. 6 seed Emporia State in the first round on Friday.

St. Cloud State (12-5), the No. 5 seed, will play No. 4 seed and region host Central Missouri (19-4) on Friday.

The UMD/Emporia State winner will play No. 2 seed Nebraska-Kearney while the St. Cloud State/Central Missouri winner will play No. 1 seed Fort Hays State on Saturday.

The field was reduced to 48 teams this year from 64 because several conferences chose not to compete in 2020-21. Regional sites were predetermined because of COVID-19 considerations.

JOEL RIPPEL

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