V-Hawks win first-ever share of the NSAA crown with big win over Waldorf
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Waldorf (5-22, 3-11) | 43 | 23 | 66 |
|
Viterbo (15-12, 9-5) | 49 | 48 | 97 |
LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo Men's Basketball team (15-12) are the 2021-22 North Star Athletic Association Regular Season Champions. With their huge 97-66 win against Waldorf tonight, the V-Hawks improved to 9-5 in NSAA play, sharing the top spot in conference with Bellevue. The win secured their first ever NSAA title, and their first regular-season championship since the 2009-10 season, when they shared the top spot in the Midwest Collegiate Conference.
Two minutes and 29 seconds into the first half, Robert Cunitz hit a jumper, marking his 1000th career-point in a V-Hawk uniform to go up 6-4. The rest of half number one was closely contested, as the largest lead of either team came by the V-Hawks with 7:52 left on a Cunitz three-pointer. Waldorf was able to briefly regain the lead on several occasions, with their latest lead being 43-41 with 3:31 left in the half. Three made free throws from Cunitz and Brady Polk gave Viterbo the lead back, before Jack Monis collected an and-one for the 1000th point of his career and put the V-Hawks up 47-43 with 1:13 left. Dakota Mannel hit a jumper with 37 seconds left in the half to secure the V-Hawks lead at 49-43 before heading into the locker rooms.
The V-Hawks dominated the second half, outscoring the Warriors 48-23. The Warriors scored the first five points in half number two, pulling within one of the V-Hawks with 18:47 left on the clock. From there, the V-Hawk defense did not allow the Warriors to score five points until there was 10:33 left on the clock. During that eight minute and 14 second span, Viterbo outscored Waldorf 25-5 to take the 74-53 lead with 10:33 remaining. The V-Hawks went on another huge run to finish the final 10 minutes, outscoring the Warriors 23-13, including momentous buckets from Evan Parker, Cole Crubel, Luke Spink, and Alex King to seal the 97-66 win.
Polk and Monis led the way for the V-Hawks with 19 points each, followed by Cunitz with 16. A total of nine V-Hawks scored at least two points during the game, the most this season. Times, seeds, and pairings for next week's NSAA Tournament will officially be announced on Sunday, Feb. 20. Although the V-Hawks share the regular-season title, Viterbo is expected to receive the No. 1 overall seed due to head-to-head conference matchups and will likely host Waldorf again on Wednesday at 7:00 PM CST.