Northern State men, St. Cloud State women earn NSIC basketball tournament titles

Northern State won its third consecutive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball tournament championship by crushing Minnesota State Mankato 80-59 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Tuesday night.

The Wolves (26-6) earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Central Region tournament with the victory and will find out their first postseason opponent Sunday night.

Sophomore forward Parker Fox and sophomore guard Mason Stark led Northern State with 29 and 27 points, respectively, with Stark shooting 12-for-18 from the field. Stark scored 89 points and shot 75% from the field during the tournament.

Stark led the way from the start, making his first five shots and scoring 11 points in the first five minutes of the game. MSU Mankato (17-15) stayed close, however, and Northern State led only 34-30 at halftime.

The Wolves took charge in the second half with a 22-4 run. Northern State wound up shooting 50.8% from the field and hitting 38.5% from beyond the arc.

Senior forward Cameron Kirksey led the Mavericks with 15 points.

Since 2013, Northern State is 17-5 when playing in the Sanford Pentagon. The Wolves tied Winona State for the most tournament titles with the program's fifth overall, and now hold the longest winning streak in NSIC tournament play with 12 victories.

St. Cloud State defeated Minnesota Duluth 71-62 to win the championship game of the NSIC women's basketball tournament in Sioux Falls.

Sophomore guard Brehna Evans scored 17 points and junior forward Nikki Kilboten scored 15 to lead the Huskies (23-7), who won their first NSIC tournament championship since 2009.

The Bulldogs, who trailed by 10 at halftime and by six going into the fourth quarter, tied the score 56-56. The Huskies used a 7-0 run to take a 63-56 lead and the Bulldogs didn't get closer than four after that.