#HLRewind: Men’s Basketball
2019 #HLMBB Championship Central
The 2018-19 #HLMBB regular season was another competitive one as the seeds for #MotorCityMadness came down to the final day of the regular season. Wright State and Northern Kentucky both ended the season with identical 13-5 marks to
share the regular season title with the Raiders earning the No. 1 overall seed for the tournament and the Norse as the No. 2 seed.
The championship started on campus with quarterfinal action as the top four seeds hosted games with WSU facing No. 8 IUPUI, NKU taking on No. 7 Detroit Mercy, No. 3 Oakland hosting No. 6 Youngstown State and No. 4 Green Bay welcoming No. 5 UIC.
The first two quarterfinal games on Tuesday, March 5 saw the top-seeded Raiders victorious in convincing fashion over the Jags and the Phoenix outlasting the Flames to move on to the semifinals at Little Caesars Arena.
The next day saw the final two quarterfinal matchups with the higher seeds both prevailing with Northern Kentucky taking care of business against the Titans and the Golden Grizzlies hanging out in an exciting game versus YSU as both teams moved on to play in Detroit.
With the championship shifting to Detroit and Little Caesars Arena for the semifinals on Monday, March 11, the top four seeds battled it out for a right to play in the championship game.
In the first semifinal game, No. 1 seed Wright State continued to dominate as they earned a victory of Green Bay to advance to its second-straight title game.
The second semifinal game was a back-and-forth affair as No. 3 Oakland jumped out to an early lead over second-seeded Northern Kentucky. But the Norse battled back and claimed the victory in dramatic fashion.
The championship game saw the top two seeds and the last two winners of the Horizon League Tournament battle it out for a right to play in the NCAA Tournament as No. 1 seed Wright State took on No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky.
After a late night on Monday, the Norse showed no slowing down and continued their momentum from the semifinals straight through to the championship game.
And the celebration was on for the Norse!
It marked the second tournament championship for Northern Kentucky in the last three seasons as they made just their second-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
2019 #HLRewind:
June 10 – Men’s and Women’s Soccer
June 17 – Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Volleyball
June 24 – Men’s and Women’s Track and Fields
July 1 – Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving
July 8 – Men’s and Women’s Golf
July 15 – Men’s Basketball
July 22 – Women’s Basketball
July 29 – Men’s and Women’s Tennis
August 5 – Baseball and Softball