2009 Summit League men's basketball tournament

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
2010 →
2008–09 Summit League men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North Dakota St. 16 2   .889 26 7   .788
Oral Roberts 14 4   .778 16 15   .516
Oakland 13 5   .722 23 13   .639
IUPUI 9 9   .500 16 14   .533
Southern Utah 8 10   .444 11 20   .355
IPFW 8 10   .444 13 17   .433
South Dakota St. 7 11   .389 13 20   .394
Centenary 6 12   .333 8 23   .258
Western Illinois 6 12   .333 9 20   .310
UMKC 3 15   .167 7 24   .226
Summit League Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll


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]

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]

  1. ^ "2009 Summit League Basketball Championships - theSummitLeague.org Official Web Site of The Summit League". Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  2. ^ "Woodside's Basket Lifts North Dakota State Past Oakland for The Summit League Title" (Press release). The Summit League. March 10, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Associated Press (March 10, 2009). "Woodside hits jumper with 3 seconds left to push N. Dakota St. to Summit title". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "South Dakota State wins 17th straight to earn NCAA bid". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 10, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2009.[dead link]