South Dakota Captures WFF Title
Mar 5, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Turner Trofholz' 28 points and 16 rebounds and 26 points from Josh Mueller led South Dakota past Minnesota State Saturday night and into the NCAA Division II tournament. USD downed MSU 87-72 at Sapp Fieldhouse in the Wells Fargo Finals Championship, extending its winning streak to nine.
The 25-5 Coyotes came from seven down in the first half and forged a tie by halftime despite shooting just 38.9 percent from the field.
Minnesota State grabbed the lead just once after halftime, on a three-pointer by Andy Moeller with 15:40 left, 49-48. After MSU's Luke Anderson tied the game three minutes later at 53 with a layup, the Coyotes turned up the heat.
Eric Hall hit a three and Luke Tibbetts scored five straight points on a layup and a three-pointer to start a 14-point run by the Coyotes over the next four minutes.
The Coyotes hit 15 of their 24 second-half shots (62.5 percent) in cruising to their first Wells Fargo Finals title and their first NCC post-season tournament championship since 1991.
Trofholz, who hit 11 of 19 shots while playing all 40 minutes, was selected the tournament MVP. He scored 25 points in Friday night's 80-56 semifinal victory over St. Cloud State.
The rest of the All-Tournament team included Abdul Mills of UNO, Josh Mueller and Luke Tibbetts of South Dakota and Luke Anderson and Jamal Staten of Minnesota State.
Anderson scored 23 points and Staten 19 to lead Minnesota State, now 23-7.
The full NCAA Division II field, which is expected to include No. 20 MSU and No. 5 Nebraska-Omaha, will be announced at 9:30 p.m. CST Sunday.
The 25-5 Coyotes came from seven down in the first half and forged a tie by halftime despite shooting just 38.9 percent from the field.
Minnesota State grabbed the lead just once after halftime, on a three-pointer by Andy Moeller with 15:40 left, 49-48. After MSU's Luke Anderson tied the game three minutes later at 53 with a layup, the Coyotes turned up the heat.
Eric Hall hit a three and Luke Tibbetts scored five straight points on a layup and a three-pointer to start a 14-point run by the Coyotes over the next four minutes.
The Coyotes hit 15 of their 24 second-half shots (62.5 percent) in cruising to their first Wells Fargo Finals title and their first NCC post-season tournament championship since 1991.
Trofholz, who hit 11 of 19 shots while playing all 40 minutes, was selected the tournament MVP. He scored 25 points in Friday night's 80-56 semifinal victory over St. Cloud State.
The rest of the All-Tournament team included Abdul Mills of UNO, Josh Mueller and Luke Tibbetts of South Dakota and Luke Anderson and Jamal Staten of Minnesota State.
Anderson scored 23 points and Staten 19 to lead Minnesota State, now 23-7.
The full NCAA Division II field, which is expected to include No. 20 MSU and No. 5 Nebraska-Omaha, will be announced at 9:30 p.m. CST Sunday.
Players Mentioned
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