THIS WEEK
Postseason play begins tonight for the University of Mary when the Marauders visit the Minnesota State University Mavericks on Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the opening round of the 2017 NSIC/Sanford Health men's basketball tournament. Tip off is set for 7 pm at the Taylor Center on the MSU campus in Mankato, MN. The Marauders-Mavericks victor will face the winner of the MSU Moorhead vs. Concordia-St. Paul game in the quarterfinals of the NSIC tournament on Sunday, Feb. 26, in Sioux Falls, SD.

THE RECORD
After splitting on the road on the final weekend of the regular season, the Marauders are 12-16 overall and 10-12 against Northern Sun foes. Mary finished tied for 9th overall in the NSIC and tied for fourth in the NSIC North. Due to a tiebreaker, the Marauders ended with the fifth seed in the NSIC North.

NSIC TOURNAMENT INFO
Tied for fourth in the NSIC North division final standings, a tiebreaker dropped the Marauders to the fifth seed in the NSIC / Sanford Health men's basketball tournament. Mary will open the tournament at Minnesota State University – the fourth seed in the NSIC South – on Wednesday, Feb. 22. The winner between the Marauders and the Mavericks will face the MSU Moorhead and Concordia-St. Paul victor in the quarterfinal round at the Sanford Pentagon on Sunday, Feb. 26, at noon. The semifinals are set for Monday, Feb. 27, with the championship scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28. The NSIC tournament champion earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Central Region tournament.

FAST BREAKS
The Marauders make their second trip of the season to Minnesota State.Mary defeated MSU 75-61 on Jan. 14.
Mary finished the season strong, winning 4-of-6 games
Mary has won its last two games against MSU, in the 2016 NSIC quarterfinals and the regular season contest this year
Bryan Jefferson and Rickey Suggs combined for 38 points at BSU (19 each) and 51 at Minnesota Crookston (Suggs 26, Jefferson 25). The pair shot a combined 60.7 percent (37-of-61) for the weekend.  
The trio of Damonta Henry (25), Suggs and Jefferson combined for 63 points at BSU

LISTEN LIVE ON FOX SPORTS 710
With both the Mary men's and women's basketball NSIC tournament games airing at the same time, the women's game will be carried on KFYR 550 AM with former Marauders men's basketball player Todd Domres calling the action. The Men's game against Minnesota State will remain on Fox Sports 710 with Voice of the Marauders Rick Anthony with the call.

MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MAVERICKS HEADLINES
The Mavericks are 19-9 overall and 7th in the NSIC South with a 14-8 conference record
After a four-game win streak, MSU split its last four games of the season
At home the Mavericks are just 7-5, compared to 10-3 on the road and 2-1 in neutral site games
MSU is 13-5 in the NSIC tournament and won the 2013 and 2014 titles
Last season's NCAA tournament appearance was the 13th in program history
Sr. FJon Fuqua averages 15.5 PPG and 6.3 rebounds/game while shooting 57 percent, all team-highs
The Mavericks expect to start two seniors and three sophomores
Head coach Matt Margethaler is in his 16th season leading the Mavericks and has a 349-142 career record with 11 NCAA playoff appearances

HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. MAVERICKS
The Marauders are 3-9 all-time against the Mavericks
Mary has won the last two meetings, snapping a 5-game losing streak to Minnesota State with a 96-91 overtime win in the NSIC quarterfinals last spring and following up with a 75-61 road win on Jan. 14.
The two teams first met Dec. 12, 2008, in Bismarck with the Mavericks winning 83-61
After losing the first four games in the series, Mary claimed its first win 84-69 at home on 1.15.11 as All-American Anthony Moody hit eight treys and scored 31 points and Jordan Wilhelm added five three pointers and 17 points.
LAST MEETING Led by Isaac Lindquist with 16 points, five Marauders posted double figure points as Mary defeated Minnesota State 75-61 at the Taylor Center in Mankato, MN, on Jan. 14. Damonta Henry was 4-for-4 on treys and scored 15 points off the bench, Rickey Suggs added 12, Bryan Jefferson 11 and Trevor Zacher 10. Mary's defense limited MSU to a 36.5 shooting percentage and an 8-for-23 effort behind the line. Mary led 42-31 at half and built its lead to as many as 17 points in the second half. Jon Fuqua led MSU with 24 points and seven rebounds.
MARAUDERS NSIC POST-SEASON HISTORY
The Marauders are 3-7 in the NSIC tournament
The first win was a 70-65 1st round home victory over MSU Moorhead on March 2, 2011. Anthony Moody scored 25 points with eight rebounds and seven assists. Eric Erdmann added 17 points and Jordan Wilhelm 12.
Mary has faced Winona State three times in the NSIC tournament, more than any other team
The Marauders won twice in the tourney last season and reached the semifinals

MARAUDERS NSIC PLAYOFF HISTORY (3-7)
March 1, 2008              at Winona State (1st round)                            L 77-50
March 3, 2010      at Winona State (1st round)                            L 76-57
March 2, 2011      MSU Moorhead (1st round)                            W 70-65
March 5, 2011            vs. St. Cloud State (semi-finals)                    L 65-59
Feb. 27, 2013       at Winona State (1st round)                            L 77-64
Feb. 27, 2014            at Southwest Minn. State (1st round)            L 82-65
Feb. 21, 2015            at Concordia-St. Paul (1st round)                    L 65-78
Feb. 24, 2016            Concordia-St. Paul (1st round)                        W 76-72
Feb. 27, 2016            vs. Minnesota State (quarterfinals)               W 96-91 OT
Feb. 29, 2016            vs. MSU Moorhead (semifinals)                        L 65-89

MARAUDERS NCAA PLAYOFF HISTORY (0-1)
March 12, 2011     vs. Metro State (at Mankato, MN)                L 78-73

REWIND
Fighting for the final home playoff slot in the NSIC North, the Marauders split their final two games of the season, both on the road. The Marauders used 63 combined points from Damonta Henry, Rickey Suggs and Bryan Jefferson to defeat Bemidji State 87-81. Down by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Marauders used a 20-5 run late in the game to pull away from the Beavers. Lucas Wendt led BSU with 19 points and Ben Best added 16... Suggs and Jefferson continued their scoring surge the next night with a combined 51 but the Marauders fell short 91-80 at Minnesota Crookston. Mary led 57-52 with 13 minutes left to play but UMC turned it around with a 24-7 run. Suggs scored a career-high 26 points and added seven rebounds and two steals. Jefferson made 11-of-16 shots on his way to a double double with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

JEFFERSON JOTTINGS
Sr. forward Bryan Jefferson joined an exclusive club in Marauders history after cracking the 1,000 point and 500 rebound barrier. The 17th Marauder with 1,000 points, he is one of only seven Mary players have 500 rebounds. Additionally, the Aurora, IL, native is the 5th player in school history to crack both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. The others are Roger Klemisch (1,465 points and 782 rebounds), Jerome Nichols (1,366 and 707), Rory Entzi (1,870 and 609) and Eric Erdmann (1,642 and 603).
Jefferson is currently 9th all-time with 1,273 points. Scott Kleinjan is the Marauders all-time scoring leader with 2,268.
Next on the list but maybe out of reach is Jerome Nichols with 1,366 points.
Jefferson is 4th all-time in rebounding with 610 after moving past  Eric Erdmann (603) and Rory Entzi (609) last weekend. Roger Klemisch is the all-time Marauders rebounding leader with 782.  
The Aurora, IL, native has five double doubles this season
He has just missed double digits in rebounds several times this season, ending with nine boards in nine different games
Only the third Mary player to earn All-NSIC 1st team honors, Jefferson is currently 9th in the league in scoring (16.3 PPG), 6th in rebounds (7.5 RPG) and 15th in field goal percentage (.546)
Jefferson has led the Marauders in scoring five times and rebounding 19 times this season
Eight times this season Jefferson has scored 20 or more points

OH HENRY
Damonta Henry reached 1,000 career points against Bemidji State on Jan. 21, the 18th Marauder to reach that career milestone.
Has led the Marauders in scoring in six of the last seven games
Henry has cracked 20 points ten times this season, including a career-high 27 points against Minnesota Duluth on Senior Night
He has cracked 20 points in six of his last eight games
In his past 12 games Henry is averaging 19.8 points per game while making 32-of-74 (43%) 3-pointers and 82-of-171 (48%) field goals
The senior guard has led the Marauders in scoring 13 times this season
Henry leads the Marauders in treys (65) and scoring (16.6 PPG). His scoring average is 7th in the NSIC
Henry is 8th in the NSIC in 3-pointers per game (2.4)

SUGGS STORYLINE
Scored a career-high 26 points in the regular season finale at Minnesota Crookston after posting 19 the night before at BSU
After providing a jolt to the Marauders offense and defense all season, senior G/F Rickey Suggs moved into the starting lineup against SCSU. He has started ten games since, other than two games he missed due to injury and a third while still recovering.
Over those 13 games Suggs is averaging 14.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG and is shooting 56.8 percent
He scored 25 points in the Marauders 99-79 win over SCSU, making an incredible 11-of-12 shots. His shooting percentage for the game (.917) was second best by a Marauders player during the NCAA era, just behind a perfect 11-for-11 night by Marc Musungayi against MSU Moorhead on 12.8.12.  
Missed the Winona State and Sioux Falls games after suffering an injury at UIU
Playing in his back yard, the Woodbury, MN, native posted 19 points in the win at Concordia-St. Paul.
Suggs is 3rd on the team with 11.4 PPG, 2nd in rebounds (4.4/game), first in field goal percentage (.552) and third in steals (25)
12th in NSIC in field goal percentage (.552)

LINDQUIST LINE SCORE
Sr. C Isaac Lindquist was one of nine Marauders to receive the Northern Sun's Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction honor, one of the highest honors awarded by the NSIC. Student-athletes must have at least a 3.75 grade point average and be a senior on course to graduate and will exhaust their athletic eligibility this year.
The Milbank, SD, native is in his third season as a starter in the post for the Marauders and will earn a degree in Business Administration and Psychology.
4th on the team in scoring at 8.6 PPG
With 696 career points, he is 9th in scoring during Mary's NCAA era

COLLINS CHALK TALK
Sr. G Erron Collins earned his first carer starts for the Marauders against Northern State and MSU Moorhead and has started ten straight games
19 of his 21 baskets this season are three-pointers
Went 3-for-3 behind the arc on Senior Day in win over UMD

STOP THIEF
The Marauders are third in the NSIC lead in steals with 6.5 per game.  A true team effort, Pat Thomas leads Mary and is 8th in the NSIC at 1.3 steals/game and 36 on the season. Damonta Henry is second on the team with 26 and 15th in the NSIC with Luke Scott (22), Bryan Jefferson (20) and Rickey Suggs (25) close behind.

TURNOVERS
Feeding off its penchant to steal the ball from its opponents, Mary is second in the NSIC in turnover margin. The Marauders are +2.46 per game, committing 10.5 turnovers/game while forcing 12.9. After suffering a -2 in turnover margin in the season opener, the Marauders turned the ball over fewer times than their opponents in eight straight games, including a +3 mark against NCAA Division I and Big Ten member Nebraska. For the season the Marauders have held the turnover edge in 17 games with one draw while opponents have held the edge 10 times.  

HELPING HAND
With 115 assists this season, senior guard Pat Thomas has the 3rd best single season total of Mary's NCAA era. With at least one game to go he could reach Anthony Moody's top year of 126 in 2010-11. Thomas is 28th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.74 and is 6th in the NSIC in assists per game at 4.1. He missed the Marauders NCAA-era school single game assist record by one as his passes directly led to 10 baskets for Mary against Yellowstone Christian. Thomas also added 10 points against the Centurions for the first Marauders double double of the season.

THE BORTKE COURT MAC ATTACK
After struggling at home the last few seasons, Mary is once again finding success at the McDowell Activity Center (MAC). The playing floor was christened Bortke Court in honor of long-time Mary men's basketball coach and athletic director Al Bortke in July 2009. Here is the Marauders NCAA Division II home record:
2006-07:   5-  7
2007-08:   4-  7
2008-09:   7-  5
2009-10: 11-  2
2010-11: 12-  1
2011-12:   3-10
2012-13:   3-  9
2013-14:   6-  7
2014-15:   4-  8
2015-16:   8-  7
2016-17:       8-  6
The Marauders once won 27 straight home games for Coach Bortke
at the MAC (February 19, 1976 thru November 11, 1978).

LISTEN LIVE
University of Mary fans can listen to all Marauders conference games live on Fox Sports 710 as Rick Anthony, the Voice of the Marauders, brings you all the game action. You can also listen live online at www.foxsports710.com. Click the "Listen Live" link to stream the game in real time.