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RIPON, Wis. – The 2012 Midwest Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament kicks off this weekend when Lake Forest, Grinnell, St. Norbert and Carroll meet in Lake Forest, Ill. to battle for the MWC automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The tournament is set to start on Friday, February 24 when Lake Forest hosts Carroll at 5:00 p.m. and St. Norbert battles Grinnell at 7:30 p.m. The two winners of Friday’s contest will meet on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. for a chance to move on to the NCAA Tournament.
Lake Forest captured its first Midwest Conference Championship since the 1999-00 season and will serve as host to the 2012 MWC Tournament after setting a new school record for wins in a season with 20. The Foresters use a stifling defense that surrendered a conference-low 62.2 points per game which helped the team finish second in scoring margin at +9.1 points per game. Travis Clark leads Lake Forest on both the offensive and defensive end averaging a double-double (17.7 ppg, 10.1 rpg). James Stack averages 11.1 points per game and has knocked down a team-high 49 three-pointers and tops the conference shooting 53% from behind the arc. Nate Bateman is second on the team in rebounding (5.3 rpg) and also contributes 10.6 points per game while Jeff Beck chips in 9.9 points per game to lead the Lake Forest offense.
Grinnell returns to the MWC Tournament and looks to avenge a loss in the finals of the 2011 MWC Tournament to champion St. Norbert. Once again the Pioneers bring a potent offense to the tournament leading the nation in points (112.1 ppg), three-point field goals per game (18.6 3fg) and steals (14.9 spg). Griffin Lentsch paces the Grinnell offensive attack averaging 26.7 points per game which included setting an NCAA Division-III record 89 points in a November 19 win against Principia. Lentsch also leads the conference with 98 three-point field goals made while shooting almost 43% from the field. Three other Pioneers average double-figure points which include Luke Yeager (11 ppg), Jesse Ney (10 ppg) and Patrick Maher (10.1 ppg). Grinnell is also one of the best team in the nation in turnover margin as they are one of two MWC schools to have a positive turnover margin (+12.5) with six players that have 20 or more steals on the year.
St. Norbert earned a chance to defend its MWC Tournament title and enters as the third seed after a 15-win regular season. St. Norbert relies on strong pressure defense to hold opponents to only 66 points per game as teams only shoot 43% against the Green Knights. Brandon Gries leads the way averaging 14.2 points per game and averaging 4.2 rebounds per game in just over 28 minutes per contest. Gries also shoots 40% from behind the arc but has been red-hot against conference competition when he knocks down 47% of his three-point chances. Andrew Schwoerer averages 6.1 rebounds per game to lead the team while also scoring 11.9 points per game. Garrett Thom averages 9.6 points per game and shoots a team-best 58% from the field while also pulling down 5.4 rebounds per contest.
Carroll earned a spot in the MWC Tournament on the last day of the season and beat out Ripon on tiebreakers to earn a chance to win its first MWC Tournament since the 2006-07 season. Carroll enters the tournament ranking third in the conference in both scoring offence (75.6 ppg) and scoring defense (71.8 ppg) while ranking tops in the team in field goal percentage (48.9%). Alec Molter leads a trio of Pioneers that average double figures on the season and ranks eighth in the league scoring 14.8 points per game while ranking third in rebounding (8.4 ppg) and fifth in field goal percentage (57.7%). Kevin Hurd has made a myriad number of good plays this season including two buzzer beaters to propel Carroll to victory to go along with his 11.8 points per game average and team-high 50 assists. Kyle Jones rounds out the trio as he scores 10.9 points per game and chips in 4.6 rebounds per contest and became the 15th player in school history to break the 1,000 point plateau.