2009 Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament

The 2009 Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament was the 2009 post-season tournament for Summit League, an NCAA Division I athletic conference. It took place March 7–10, 2009 at Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.[1]

2009 Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2008–09
Teams8
SiteSioux Falls Arena
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
ChampionsNorth Dakota State (1st title)
Winning coachSaul Phillips (1st title)
MVPBen Woodside (North Dakota St)
Top scorerBen Woodside (North Dakota St)
(61 points)
TelevisionESPN2
2008–09 Summit League men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
North Dakota St. †16–2 .889  26–7  .788
Oral Roberts14–4 .778  16–15  .516
Oakland13–5 .722  23–13  .639
IUPUI9–9 .500  16–14  .533
Southern Utah8–10 .444  11–20  .355
IPFW8–10 .444  13–17  .433
South Dakota St.7–11 .389  13–20  .394
Centenary6–12 .333  8–23  .258
Western Illinois6–12 .333  9–20  .310
UMKC3–15 .167  7–24  .226
† Summit League Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Top-seeded North Dakota State defeated #3 seed Oakland 66–64 to earn an automatic berth into the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The winning points came on a shot by Ben Woodside, who was also named the tournament MVP,[2] with 3.3 seconds left.[3] North Dakota State trailed for most of the final; the Bison were behind by as much as 14 points in the first half and 12 with less than 10 minutes left, but they went on an 18–4 run to end the game, capped by Woodside's shot.[3] A long three-pointer by Oakland's Johnathon Jones at the buzzer bounced off the rim, preserving the Bison victory.[3]

The Bison, who were in their first season of eligibility for Division I postseason play, became the first men's team in Division I or its predecessors in more than 35 years to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in its first year of eligibility. The previous team to accomplish this feat was Southwestern Louisiana, now Louisiana-Lafayette, in 1972.[3] The Bison were the second Summit League team that day to accomplish this feat—South Dakota State, also in its first year of Division I postseason eligibility, won the Summit women's tournament final, held at the same site, to book a place in the NCAA Women's Tournament.[4] In another coincidence, the Jackrabbits defeated Oakland in their final.[4]

Format

Unlike most Division I basketball conferences, the Summit League does not send all of its teams into its conference tournament. Out of the league's 10 teams, the top eight receive berths in the conference tournament. After the 18-game conference season, teams are seeded by conference record, with tiebreakers used if necessary in the following order:

  1. Head-to-head competition
  2. Winning percentage vs. ranked conference teams (starting with #1 and moving down until the tie is broken)
  3. Ratings Percentage Index
  4. Coin flip

Bracket
Quarterfinals
March 7–8 		Semifinals
March 9 		Finals
March 10
         
1 North Dakota State 83
8 Centenary 77
1 North Dakota State 79
5 Southern Utah 67
4 IUPUI 48
5 Southern Utah 53
1 North Dakota State 66
3 Oakland 64
2 Oral Roberts 69
7 South Dakota State 72*
7 South Dakota State 56
3 Oakland 74
3 Oakland 75
6 IPFW 62

* Overtime

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-28. Retrieved 2009-03-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Woodside's Basket Lifts North Dakota State Past Oakland for The Summit League Title" (Press release). The Summit League. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  3. Associated Press (2009-03-10). "Woodside hits jumper with 3 seconds left to push N. Dakota St. to Summit title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  4. "South Dakota State wins 17th straight to earn NCAA bid". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
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