Superior, WI -- Tonight, the #3 seeded North Central University (NCU) men's basketball team took on the #2 seeded University of Wisconsin Superior (UWS) Yellowjackets in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference semifinal round of this year's Men's Basketball Tournament. North Central came into this matchup having lost both regular season meetings versus UWS with a narrow 68-67 loss at home on January 13th and most recently an 82-78 loss in Superior on February 2nd. Tonight, NCU would find themselves trailing by 16 points early in the second half before the Rams started to chip away at the deficit due to strong play from Tanner Holtman, Carrington McNeal, and Nik Feller. A last-second North Central three-point attempt to tie things would not find the mark and the Yellowjackets would hold on to win 80-77.
Nik Feller got things going for the Rams with a jumper off the assist from Tanner Holtman. After a three-point answer from UWS, Holtman would lace one from deep to put the Rams up 5-3 early. Eventually, a 9-0 Yellowjacket run gave Superior a 14-7 lead over the visiting Rams. The two teams traded buckets back and forth until NCU was able to retake the lead at 21-20 following a Feller three-pointer and a Carrington McNeal finish in the paint. Then the lead traded hands a total of 5 times in the course of five or so minutes with UW-Superior closing out the half on a 14-4 stint to lead NCU 38-29 at the break. Nik Feller led the way for the Rams with 9 first-half points.
Coming out of the break, North Central was dialed in as they executed on their first two possessions with a mid-range jumper from Carrington McNeal and Tanner Holtman's third three of the night. However, UWS responded by rattling off 6 straight points to go up by 13. With 14:27 to go, Superior stretched their lead to the largest of the evening at 16 points to force an NCU timeout. The Rams then responded with a 7-2 to cut away at the deficit, but the Yellowjackets seemingly still held control. At the 7:05 mark, guard Carmello McNeal hit a jumper to finally cut it to single digits at 65-57. However, UWS answered back once again by quickly increasing the advantage to 14 points with 5:48 remaining. Then North Central made its run, with clutch buckets from the McNeal twins and Feller to bring it to within 5 points with under two minutes. The next possession, the Rams got the turnover they needed which led to yet another Holtman three on the other end to make it 79-77 still in favor of the home team with 1:26 on the clock. A flurry of missed threes and turnovers by both squads left fans on the edge of their seats in the final minute. NCU would be forced to foul with 22 seconds left, sending the Yellowjackets to the line where they would fortunately go 1-2 and it stayed a one-possession game at 80-77. The Rams had a chance at a last-second three-pointer that missed its mark and the University of Superior escaped with an 80-77 victory over North Central.
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That wraps up the 2023-24 UMAC season for the Rams. Men's Basketball had a great season, finishing 3rd overall in the UMAC with a 12-14 overall record and 9-5 in conference play. The team's postseason will continue as the team competes in the NCCAA North Regional March 7-9th. Games TBD.
All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages for updates on men's basketball and all things NCU Athletics.
