2009 Summit League men's basketball tournament

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]

2009 Summit League men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2008–09
Teams	8
Site	Sioux Falls Arena Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Champions	North Dakota State (1st title)
Winning coach	Saul Phillips (1st title)
MVP	Ben Woodside (North Dakota St)
Top scorer	Ben Woodside (North Dakota St) (61 points)
Television	ESPN2
Summit League men's basketball tournaments ← 2008 2010 →

2008–09 Summit League men's basketball standings

v t e	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

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]

Format

Unlike most Division I basketball conferences, the Summit League does not send all of its teams into its conference tournament. Out of the league's 10 teams, the top eight receive berths in the conference tournament. After the 18-game conference season, teams are seeded by conference record, with tiebreakers used if necessary in the following order:

1. Head-to-head competition
2. Winning percentage vs. ranked conference teams (starting with #1 and moving down until the tie is broken)
3. Ratings Percentage Index
4. Coin flip

Bracket

	Quarterfinals March 7–8					Semifinals March 9					Finals March 10
	1	North Dakota State	83
	8	Centenary	77
						1	North Dakota State	79
						5	Southern Utah	67
	4	IUPUI	48
	5	Southern Utah	53
											1	North Dakota State	66
											3	Oakland	64
	2	Oral Roberts	69
	7	South Dakota State	72*
						7	South Dakota State	56
						3	Oakland	74
	3	Oakland	75
	6	IPFW	62

* Overtime

References

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. 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. "South Dakota State wins 17th straight to earn NCAA bid". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 10, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2009.^{[dead link]}