THIS WEEK
Already assured a spot in the post-season, the University of Mary men's basketball team charges into the final week of the regular season with hopes of claiming a home court bid for the first round of the Northern Sun tournament. The Marauders task starts with a visit to MSU Moorhead on Thursday, February 17. Game time between the Marauders and the Dragons is 7:30 pm at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, MN. The regular season concludes Saturday, February 19, when UMary hosts Northern State University. Tipoff is slated for 4 pm between the Marauders and the Wolves from the McDowell Activity Center on the UMary campus.
 
THE RECORDS
UMary is 10-14 overall and 9-10 in the Northern Sun (11^th NSIC / 5^th NSIC North)… MSU Moorhead is 14-11/9-7 (5^th NSIC/2^nd-T NSIC North)… Northern State is 17-11/11-9 (8^th NSIC/4^th NSIC North).
 
SECURED SPOT
With a home sweep last weekend the Marauder earned a spot in the Northern Sun tournament. UMary can finish anywhere from 3^rd to 5^th in the NSIC North division. The top six teams in each of the NSIC North and South Divisions make the conference tournament. Previously all 16 teams made the league tourney… Based on winning percentage the top two teams in each division earn a bye in the opening round. Teams finishing 3^rd and 4^th host an opening round tournament game against the 5^th and 6^th seeds from the other division on Wednesday, February 23.
 
POSSIBILITIES
If the Marauders sweep their final two games and a couple other pieces fall into place UMary could host an opening round tournament game. The Marauders would finish with a winning record with a sweep of MSU Moorhead and Northern State. Two wins by UMary plus any of two by Minot State, two losses by Minot State, two losses by Northern State or two losses by MSUM allows the Marauders to jump to 3^rd or 4^th place… A loss by UMary in either game relegates the Marauders to 5^th place…  Northern State hosts Minot State and UMary visits MSU Moorhead on Thursday. Saturday features Minot State hosting MSU Moorhead and the Marauders hosting the Wolves.
 
3
The Marauders have won three straight games, which is tied for the longest current win streak in the NSIC with MSU Moorhead and Minot State. It's also the team's longest win streak of the season… this is the longest program win streak against NSIC teams since winning three straight in February 2017.
 
4
The Marauders have won four straight games at the McDowell Activity Center after sweeping their last two home weekend series… longest home win streak since capturing five straight in 2015-16… Longest home win streak against NSIC teams since claiming 10 straight at the MAC in 2010-11.
 
TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Entering the final weekend of play only one out of 16 teams has been eliminated from NSIC tournament contention (Concordia-St. Paul)… ten of 14 playoff slots have been secured, including one by UMary. Starting this season, 12 teams – the top six in both the North and South Divisions – qualify for the NSIC tournament. With the number of games varying from team to team due to cancellations, the standings are decided by winning percentage in NSIC contests. The top two teams in each division earn a 1^st round bye. The 3^rd-place team in each division hosts the 6^th place team in the other division while the 4^th hosts the 5^th.
 
VARIANCE
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and implemented safety protocols, several Northern Sun games have been cancelled this season. The Marauders have played 19 of 20 NSIC games with two remaining. Two of 16 teams have played all 20 of its NSIC games this season (Upper Iowa, Northern State). Three teams have been limited to 16 games (Minot State, MSU Moorhead, Minnesota State). With teams playing a various number of games standings will be based on winning percentage.
 
2022 NSIC/SANFORD HEALTH BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
The 2022 NSIC/Sanford Health men's basketball tournament opens Wednesday, February 23, with four games on campus sites. The top two seeds from both the North and South Divisions are joined by the four opening-round victors for the quarterfinals on Saturday and Sunday, February 26-27. The semifinals are Monday, February 28, with the championship game set for Tuesday, March 1. The NSIC tournament champion earns an automatic berth to the NCAA championships. The NSIC tournament quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games are held at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD.
 
WEEKEND PLANS
Saturday is a busy day for Marauders basketball. In addition to the final regular season game against Northern State, here are the day's other activities:

• Senior Day – the Marauders will honor lone senior Davids Atelbauers prior to the men's game
• Olson and Bortke Award Presentations
• Cancer Awareness Game Celebrating Mia Thinnes and women's pink basketball jersey auction
• Free Blood Pressure Screening | From 1:15-6 pm UMary students are offering free blood pressure screenings in the Lumen Vitae University Center Hall of Fame Hallway just outside the MAC  

 
LAST WEEK
The Marauders completed their second straight home sweep with wins over #6 Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State | The Marauders upset #6 Minnesota Duluth 75-71 as UMary scored the final eight points of the game in the last 51 seconds. After taking a 45-32 lead at intermission, the Marauders fell behind by 10 points in the second half. Down 71-67, Kai Huntsberry completed a 3-point play with 51 seconds remaining. Davids Atelbauers gave UMary the lead at 73-71 on a trey from in front of the Marauders bench with 23 seconds left. After a UMD turnover, Atelbauers hit two free throws to seal the game. Huntsberry posted a team-high 19 points. Atelbauers added 13, Gertautas Urbonavicius scored 11 and Kam Warrens 10. Josh Sipes was 3-for-4 on treys. Austin Andrews had 16 for UMD…  The Marauders used a big first half to roll past St. Cloud State 90-77. UMary led 41-27 at half and led by as many as 19 points. UMary shot 57% from the floor and was 12-of-23 on treys. Huntsberry had a team-leading 20 points and nine assists, making 8-of-11 shots overall. Atelbauers scored a career-high 15, making 5-of-6 treys. Lucas Mayer had a double double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Warrens added 13 points. Matthew Johnson came off the bench and added 13 points, making 3-of-5 shots behind the arc. Caleb Donaldson led SCSU with 21 points.  
 
BIG
The #6 Bulldogs are the highest ranked NCAA team UMary has beaten at home in the McDowell Activity Center. The previous mark was a 77-48 win over #8 St. Cloud State University on December 16, 2007… The last time the Marauders had beaten a nationally-ranked team at the MAC was a 72-51 win over #19 MSU Moorhead on January 7, 2012… The last UMary win over a nationally-ranked team was a 77-73 road win at #3 MSUM on January 8, 2016. That win over the Dragons is the highest-ranked NCAA team the Marauders have beaten.
 
HUNTSBERRY NAMED NSIC NORTH DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK
A pair of powerful performances in leading the University of Mary to a weekend sweep which included an historic win earned Marauders guard Kai Huntsberry Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division Player of the Week honors…Huntsberry opened the weekend with a game-high 19 points against 6th ranked and NSIC North champion University of Minnesota Duluth. The native of New Orleans, LA, hit three treys, snared seven rebounds and delivered three assists in a 75-71 win. His 3-point play with 51 seconds left initiated an 8-0 run for the Marauders as UMary rallied for the win. The victory was the first over a ranked team at home in a decade. It is also the highest-ranked NCAA team UMary has beaten at home… The junior followed with a 20 point outburst the next evening in a 90-77 win over St. Cloud State University. He finished 8-of-11 from the field, including a 4-for-7 effort behind the arc, had four rebounds, a career-high nine assists, and made two steals… For the weekend Huntsberry averaged 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.5 3-pointers per game as the Marauders extended their win streak to three games. Additionally the weekend sweep was the second straight for UMary, which also tallied the most points the program has scored in an NSIC game in three years… Huntsberry is the 6th scholar-athlete in program history to win NSIC Player of the Week honors. The last UMary player to win the honor was all-time Marauders shot block leader Matthew Kreklow on Dec. 23, 2019.
 
SENIOR DAY RECOGNITION
The Marauders will honor senior basketball scholar-athlete Davids Atelbauers prior to tip off on Saturday. A senior from Ogre, Latvia, Atelbauers joined the Marauders prior to the 2020-21 season after transferring from the University of North Dakota, where he played two seasons for the Fighting Hawks. Atelbauers is the son of Aija and Janis and is majoring in civil engineering at UMary. A recent addition to the starting lineup, Atelbauers has started eight games this season and is averaging 6.3 points per game. He has scored in double figures in five of the last six games. He hit the game-winning shot in last Friday's win over 36 Minnesota Duluth and scored a career-high 15 in a win over St. Cloud State on Saturday.
 
UMary Head Coach Jack Nelson on Davids Atelbauers | "I cannot say enough about Davids. Since the first day I was hired as the men's basketball coach last April, Davids has been a model scholar-athlete. From our first team meeting it became VERY apparent that Davids was about all the right things. It was clear that he cared deeply about his education and about excelling on the basketball court. He has worked hard and done his best to add value to our program daily. He has never complained or questioned anything about what was happening on the court or off. He has always stayed the course and is a major factor in all the success we have had this season. I look forward to seeing whatever great successes Davids has in his future!"
 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. DRAGONS
The Marauders trail the Dragons 22-17 in the all-time series… Since joining the NCAA and NSIC, UMary is 12-20 against MSUM… The Marauder have won five of the last eight games… 5 of the last 8 games were played in Moorhead… The Marauders won the first conference match-up 75-72 at MSUM on January 16, 2007… The Dragons followed with five straight wins, including an overtime victory, one win by one point and another by two points… The Marauders snapped the Dragons streak 74-58 at home on Jan. 30, 2010, the first of five straight UMary wins that concluded with a 72-51 win over 19th ranked MSUM on Jan. 7, 2012, at the MAC… The Marauders snapped an 8-game losing streak to the Dragons with a 77-73 upset win at 3rd ranked MSUM on January 8, 2016… The Marauders snapped a six-game home losing streak to the Dragons last spring, defeating MSU Moorhead 83-63 on Feb. 23, 2019… LAST MEETING | The Marauders defeated the Dragons 80-79 at the MAC on Dec. 2, 2021. Kai Huntsberry hit the go-ahead shot for a 77-75 lead with 26 seconds left before Kam Warrens added a pair of free throws with 8 seconds left. Jacob Jackson added another free throw with 3 seconds to seal the win. Huntsberry had 18 points for UMary Warrens added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Jackson had 11 points and ten rebounds and Gertautas Urbonavicius has 12 points.  
 
HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. WOLVES
The Marauders trail the Wolves 33-13 in the all-time series… UMary and NSU split their series in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 before the Wolves swept the series the last three seasons… The Wolves have won the last ten meetings… UMary last defeated Northern State 77-75 on Dec. 3, 2016, in Aberdeen, SD, as Bryan Jefferson scored 17 points and Ricky Suggs added 14 off the bench… The Marauders last home win was a 60-58 victory on Dec. 4, 2015. Marquealis Edwards led UMary with 16 points and four steals. | LAST MEETING Northern State defeated UMary 82-49 at the MAC in Dec. 4, 2021. Josh Sipes hit three treys to lead UMary with 11 points.
 
RANGE FINDER
The Marauders have started to find the range from behind the arc. Over the last six games UMary is 61-of-138 (44.2%). For the year the Marauders are shooting 35.7% on treys… Three times in the six games UMary shot over 50%, a figure reached just one in the first 18 games… four of the six times UMary knocked down 10 or more treys this season have come during this recent run.
 
TAKING CONTROL
Davids Atelbauers started six straight games and reached double figures in points five time. In his last two games, he scored 13 against #6 Minnesota Duluth and hit the game-winning 3-pointer before posting a career-high 15 points in a win over St. Cloud State. He hit 5-of-6 treys against the Huskies… In his last ten games, including eight starts, the senior from Ogre, Latvia, is averaging 8.3 points/game. In his last six games – all starts - the guard is averaging 10.3 ppg while hitting 14-of-25 trey attempts.
 
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Kai Huntsberry has had an immediate impact on the Marauders in his first year at UMary. The reigning NSIC Player of the Week is currently 4^th in scoring in the NSIC (18.5 ppg) and is among the league leaders in several categories… He has scored 22 or more points in 11 of 20 games… The transfer from San Diego City College has led the Marauders in scoring in 15 of 22 games this season… he has scored 22 or more points 11 times and 18 or more 15 times… The point guard from New Orleans, LA, averages 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.0 steals per game and is shooting 49.2% from the field, 41% on 3s and 84% at the line. The team leader in scoring and assists, he ranks 4^th in the NSIC in scoring and assists, 5^th in free throw percentage, 9^th in shooting percentage and 13^th in treys/game (2.0). 
 
SPARK
Jacob Jackson has provided a spark on offense and defense in his first season at UMary… After coming off the bench for the first 11 games, he made five straight starts… Over the course of 19 games he has posted eight or more points 15 times and reached double digits ten times… He has three double doubles, in a 78-74 win at Minot State (12 points and 10 rebounds), an 80-79 home win over MSU Moorhead (11 and 10) and against #23 Augie (17 and 10)… Jackson picked up his first start at UMary in the Marauders 65-60 win over Minnesota Crookston, hauling down 13 boards and scoring seven points… scored a career-high 17 against #23 Augie… The junior guard from Sacramento, CA, averages 9.0 points/game and 5.3 rebounds/game. He is third on the team in scoring and rebounds.   
 
IN AND OUT IMPACT
A transfer from NCAA Division I University of North Dakota, Gertautas Urbonavicius has given the Marauders a hot scoring hand inside and out. The junior forward from Vilnius, Lithuania, has hit for double digits 12 times in 22 games, including a high of 21 against the Bronchos. For the season Urbonavicius is 2^nd on the team in scoring (10.1 ppg) and 5^th in rebounding (4.4 rpg). He is making 47% of his shots overall – including 41% behind the arc – and converts 76% of his free throws.
 
DOUBLING DOWN
Kam Warrens and Jacob Jackson have combined for seven double doubles this season… Warrens has four double doubles (12 points/12 rebounds at Central Oklahoma, 10/11 vs Mayville State, 18/10 v MSU Moorhead, 10/12 at SMSU) and Jackson owns three (12/10 at Minot State, 11/10 vs. MSU Moorhead, 17/10 vs. #23 Augie)… Lucas Mayer hauled down 14 rebounds and added 12 points against the Huskies for UMary's 8^th double double of the year.
 
BOARD PLAY
Kam Warrens has been a force for the Marauders on the boards and has provided scoring punch for UMary. The junior wing has hauled down double digit rebounds four times. His 6.2 rebounds/game leads UMary and is 18^th in the NSIC. Warrens is also averaging 8.7 points/game and 7^th on the squad in made 3-pointers (17).
 
BOARD  PLAY 2
Since Lucas Mayer joined the starting lineup eight games ago after returning from injury, the Marauders have outrebounded the opposition five times. Mayer is averaging 6.6 boards/game during this run, including 14 in a win over the Huskies. That total is the most by a Marauders player since two-time All-NSIC forward Bryan Jefferson had 15 against MSU Moorhead in January 2017.
 
LINE GAMES
The Marauders outpace the opposition in scoring at the free throw line. UMary is 7^th in the NSIC in free throw percentage at 74.8% (249-of-333) while the Marauders opponents are 14^th (250-of-343/72.9%).
 
I KNOW YOU
Marauders new head coach Jack Nelson picked up his first two UMary coaching wins against a pair of schools at which he had been an assistant coach. Nelson earned up his first win at Minot State, where he was an assistant coach from 2012-16. His second win came against Sioux Falls, where Nelson coached the previous three years in his second stint with the Cougars… Nelson earned his 5^th win against Minot State to claim a season sweep. 
 
CENTURY MARK
A quartet of Bismarck Century High School graduates are playing key roles for the Marauders this season. Josh Sipes, the Marauders NSIC Player to Watch this year, is shooting 49% from the floor and is 4th on the team in made treys (19). Sipes – who made his first start of the season in a 65-60 win over Minnesota Crookston and scored 10 points - averages 4.6 ppg… Kade Amundson started the first 12 games of the season for UMary at forward and averages 5.0 ppg and 3.4 rebounds per game and is 10-of-12 (83.3%) at the free throw line… Treyton Mattern has started 14 games and averages 3.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game… Lucas Mayer is back from injury and returned to the starting lineup to hit game-winning shots against both the Golden Bears and the Beavers. He has started the last eight games and averages 7.7 ppg and 6.0 rpg while shooting 57.9%… All four played for former UMary men's basketball player Darin Mattern (and Treyton's father) at Century.
 
CLUTCH
Twice this season Lucas Mayer has scored the game-winning basketball for the Marauders in the closing seconds. Against Concordia-St. Paul Mayer put back an offensive rebound with 4.9 seconds left in a 68-66 win. On the road at Bemidji State and trailing 53-52, Mayer snared the rebound off an errant Marauders 3-point attempt and scored on a putback with 2.1 seconds remaining. Fouled while scoring, Mayer hit the free throw to complete a 3-point play in a 55-53 UMary win. 
 
HOW TO FOLLOW YOUR MARAUDERS LIVE ONLINE

• Links to live streaming video, game stats and radio streams are available at www.GoUMary.com/coverage
• Live video also streamed at www.NSICNetwork.com/goumary
• Fox Sports 710 AM radio broadcasts available online at https://foxsports710.iheart.com/

 
MARAUDERS HOME BASKETBALL GAMES AIRING LIVE ON FOX SPORTS 710
All University of Mary men's and women's basketball home and Northern Sun games air live on Fox Sports 710 AM. Voice of the Marauders Jesse Rostvedt calls all the action this season from the McDowell Activity Center.
 
THE BORTKE COURT MAC ATTACK
The Marauders once again found success on Bortke Court in the McDowell Activity Center. 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
2017-18:   2-11
2018-19:   9-  5
2019-20:   8-  7
2020-21:   2-  6
2021-22:   7-  4
 
The Marauders once won 27 straight home games for Coach Bortke at the MAC (February 19, 1976 thru November 11, 1978).
 
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