Rush The Court

Eli Linton is the RTC correspondent for the Summit League.

2009-10 Summit League Standings

• #1. Oakland                        23-8 (17-1)
• #2. IUPUI                            22-9 (15-3)
• #3. Oral Roberts               19-12 (13-5)
• #4. South Dakota St.       14-15 (10-8)
• #5. IPFW                              15-14 (9-9)
• #6. North Dakota St.       11-17 (8-10)
• #7. Western Illinois         13-16 (6-12)
• #8.  UMKC                           12-17 (6-12)
• DNQ   Centenary               8-21(3-15)
• DNQ   Southern Utah     7-22 (2-16)

Here are my Season Awards; the Summit’s selections shouldn’t be much different…

• Player of the Year – Keith Benson (C), Oakland (16.9 ppg, 10 rpg, 3.3 bpg). Benson edges out his teammate Jon Jones because his work on defense and his rebounding were so far above anyone else in the conference. He was a matchup problem every single night, and his averages against league opponents are worthy of POY.
• Newcomer of the Year – Warren Niles (G), Oral Roberts (12.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg). Niles is the highest scoring freshman in the conference, and he started the last sixteen games for ORU.
• Defensive POY – Keith Benson (C), Oakland

Summit League First Team

• C – Keith Benson, Oakland
• F – Robert Glenn, IUPUI (19.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 59% FG)
• F – Alex Young, IUPUI (18.8 ppg)
• F – Dominique Morrison, Oral Roberts (15.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.7 apg)
• G – Johnathan Jones, Oakland (12.6 ppg, 6.4 apg, 2.0 spg)
• 6^th – Jon Avery, IUPUI (8.4 ppg, 4.2 reb)

Summit League Second Team

• F – Davis Baker, SUU (16.4, 5.1 reb
• F – Michael Tveidt, NDSU (15.5, 5.6 reb, 1.2 stl)
• F – Kevin Ford, Oral Roberts (12.3, 6.9 reb, 2.4 ast)
• G – Derick Nelson, Oakland (11.7, 6.1 reb)
• G – Leroy Nobles, IUPUI (13.0, 4.2 reb)

Its time for the Summit League tournament, and just in case you can’t make it to South Dakota this year for the games, here is a quick overview of what to expect…  One of three things will happen in this tournament: 1) Oakland will play IUPUI or Oral Roberts in the final, and hammer them, since they are the favorites. 2) Oakland will face IUPUI and lose, since IUPUI seems to be the only team capable of beating Oakland soundly. 3) Oakland will face Oral Roberts, it turns out third time is the charm for the golden Eagles and they will upset Oakland for the conference title…. Those are the only three possible outcomes in this tournament; you will either see Oakland, IUPUI, or Oral Roberts in the big dance. Whatever the case, the winner will likely find themselves with a #15 seed.

Summit League Tournament

March 6 – Quarterfinals

• #1 Oakland vs. #8 UMKC—The Roos are just excited they didn’t finish below Centenary in the conference standings, not much of a chance for them in this game. It will be a couple years before UMKC is a contender again.
• #2 IUPUI vs. #7 Western Illinois—IUPUI scores a bunch of points, and Western really doesn’t have the defense to stop those big runs. This will be a blowout.

March 7 – Quarterfinals

• #5 IPFW vs. #4 South Dakota St.–Interesting matchup that will probably be the first good game of the tournament. Both games between these two were close, splitting by a combined seven points. It all depends on the outside shooting of South Dakota. IPFW has been playing very well, 4-1 in their last five, with the loss coming at Oakland by only three points. South Dakota on the other hand is 1-4 in their last five games. I’m going with IPFW in this one.
• #3 ORU vs. #6 North Dakota St.—ORU is confident from a five-game winning streak, and they simply have a better team.

March 8 – Semifinals

• #3 ORU vs. #2 IUPUI—This is the matchup everyone wants to see, and it will be a close one. Two evenly matched teams, with the edge slightly in IUPUI’s favor. Scott Sutton and the Golden Eagles have the experience and the composure, and its hard to pick against a team that defeated a top 10 team this year, but I have to go with IUPUI in a thriller.
• #1 Oakland vs. #5 IPFW–An easy win for Oakland setting up #1 vs. #2.

March 9 – Championship – 9 P.M. ET, ESPN2

• #1 Oakland vs. #2 IUPUI—This game will be redemption for Greg Kampe and his Golden Grizzlies if they can manage to hang on and win; as the league favorites, the season would be considered a complete failure if they didn’t win it all. Oakland has everything to lose; IUPUI will either use that to their advantage or be blown away by it. I say Oakland by a single point. They can finally put last year’s Summit Championship meltdown against NDSU behind them for good.