Bison capture seventh national championship

PABLO - The Bison's 2011 national championship wasn't built in a day, it took six months.

Six months of hard work, six months of playing a busy schedule, long bus trips, working on tough conditioning drills and having a hope for a title.

They got that title, thanks to their composure as a team when things got tough and a balanced offensive attack that couldn't be stopped.

Down 86-80 to Northwest Indian College with 7:59 to go in the game, SKC went on a 17-6 run to give themselves a 97-93 lead. NWIC would tie the game two times with less than two minutes to go but the Bison got a bucket and two free throws from Marvin Lewis to seal up the 103-99 win in dramatic fashion.

"It just came down to teamwork," Lewis said. "We knew we were going to hit the right shot."

He wasn't kidding. Three players for SKC scored over 20 points in the championship matchup, another scored 11 and three others were just a bucket away from scoring in double digits.

NWIC was certainly no pushover, overcoming an early 9-4 deficit early in the first half to take the 22-20 lead midway through the periods. The teams traded leads again before SKC went on a 16-4 run to take a 47-36 advantage with 3:56 left in the half. The Bison would go in to the locker room with a 53-48 lead.

Dennis Sangrey scored 16 first-half points en route to a 23-point performance for the night. Sangrey hit five three-pointers in the game.

In the second half, Joe Chartraw started things off by scoring the Bison's first seven points. He would finish the game with 23, tied for the team lead with Sangrey. Thirteen of those points came in the second half.

SKC took a 67-60 lead five minutes into the second half, and held the bulk of their lead up until midway through the period. With 10:30 to go, the Bison were up 80-75 before NWIC went on a 11-0 run.

SKC was able to to weather the storm and win their seventh national championship in eight years. It was also their third AIHEC championship in a row.

Marvin Lewis scored 22 points for the Bison and was named tournament MVP afterwards. Sangrey, Chartraw, Lewis, Jason Enright and Sonny Eppinette were named to the all-tournament team.

SKC - 53 - 50 - 103
NWIC - 48 - 51 - 99

Bison scoring - Dennis Sangrey 23, Joe Chartraw 23, Marvin Lewis 22, Emory LaMere 11, Sonny Eppinette 8, Ralston Moore 8, Jason Enright 8

Game Photos: SKC Bison win national title

Here are photos of SKC's 103-99 win over Northwest Indian College for the 2011 AIHEC National Championship...

SKC Men surge to 3-0 at AIHEC, Lady Bison barely beaten by Turtle Mountain

SKC Men continue to roll in AIHEC pool play
PABLO - The Bison continue to blowout teams so far this week at the AIHEC Tournament after handling Turtle Mountain earlier this afternoon, 69-39. The game was stopped with 2:27 to go because of the tournament mercy rule as Marvin Hudson hit a three-pointer for SKC.

It was SKC's third straight blowout victory as they will have a top spot when bracket play starts tomorrow.

Turtle Mountain scored first on two free throws to begin the game, but the Bison went on a 19-0 run to really put the game on ice before it began. SKC led 34-15 at halftime.

In the second half with 18:27 to go in the game and the score 41-19, the Bison went on another big run, a 16-2 advantage and cruised to a 69-39 victory.

Three Bison players scored in double digits. Emory LaMere led the way with 14 points while Marvin Hudson had 13 and Jason Enright added 12.

The Bison will begin bracket play tomorrow, most likely as a top seed.

SKC Women fall to Turtle Mountain
PABLO - The Lady Bison came back from a 27-19 halftime deficit but couldn't finish the comeback against Turtle Mountain on Friday falling 52-50. SKC tied the game 49-49 with 40.6 seconds to go, thanks to two clutch free throws from Loni Belcourt. Then things got interesting.

Alison Grey Bull hit a free throw to put the Lady Bison up 50-49. With 17.5 seconds left, SKC was called for a foul and Turtle Mountain hit both their free throws to take a 51-50 lead. The Lady Bison couldn't convert on the other end, and was forced to foul. Turtle Mountain hit one free throw to make it 52-50 with 1.2 seconds left and the Lady Bison couldn't come up with the miracle shot.

Grey Bull led the team with 13 points and Charlo Brown added 10.

SKC will open bracket play tomorrow.

Here are photos from the games...