Northern Iowa claims second straight MVC crown

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kwadzo Ahelegbe poured in a game-high 24 points to go along with five rebounds, as the top-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament by taking down the second-seeded Wichita State Shockers, 67-52, in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game.

Jake Koch added 13 points for the Panthers (28-4), who beat Illinois State in last year's MVC title game. Jordan Eglseder ended with 10 points for Northern Iowa, which improved to 3-1 in conference title bouts.

Clevin Hannah finished with 12 points and six rebounds for the Shockers (25-9), who were trying to win their first MVC crown since 1987. Garrett Stutz chipped in 11 points and six boards in defeat.

Trailing 39-33 a few minutes into the second half, the Panthers put together a 23-3 run to essentially seal the victory. Ahelegbe had nine points during the stretch, which Johnny Moran ended with a trey for a 56-42 lead with five minutes to play.

The Shockers never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

The Panthers used a 7-0 spurt in the early stages of the first half to take a 12-5 lead with less than 12 minutes to go. Wichita State then made a trio of three-pointers during an ensuing 11-0 burst, which Demetric Williams ended with a trey to give the Shockers a 16-12 edge with about nine minutes remaining.

The remainder of the frame was a tight battle that saw Wichita State take a 31-28 margin into the locker room.

Game Notes

The Shockers have two MVC crowns...The Panthers became the first school to repeat as MVC champs since Creighton in 2002-03....UNI leads the all-time series with Wichita State, 23-18...Northern Iowa shot 43.5 percent from the field, while the Shockers made just 32.7 percent of their shots...UNI outscored Wichita State, 39-21, in the second half.

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Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting.