APPLETON, Wis. -- Get set for more March Madness at Lawrence University.
The Lawrence men's basketball team punched its ticket for the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 98-95 overtime victory over Carroll College on Saturday in the Midwest Conference Tournament Championship Game. The MWC Tournament winner receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, which will have its pairings revealed Monday at noon.
Ryan Kroeger poured in 27 points to pace Lawrence (22-2) and was one of five Vikings in double figures. Doug Kadison added 15 points, all in the second half, and Jayce Apelgren had 12. Dylan Fogel and Andy Hurley had 11 points apiece for Lawrence, and that is a career high for Fogel. Wes Ladwig paced Carroll (15-9) with 30 points, and Ryan Mueller added 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Lawrence, ranked 16th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, trailed by 13 points at the half and were down by as many as 17 points in the second half. The Vikings got back into the game early in the second half with a 12-0 run to cut the lead from 55-38 to 55-50 with 14:52 left. Kroeger and Apelgren scored four points apiece in that stretch.
The Vikings took their first lead since 2-0 when John Dekker hit a 3-pointer to put Lawrence up 60-59 with 11:09 left. The game see-sawed from that point, with nine lead changes in the final 11:09.
Lawrence went up 83-81 on Kadison's 3-pointer with 37 seconds left. Ladwig tied the game on a layup with 16 seconds remaining to force the overtime. Carroll had a chance to win it in regulation but Ladwig's jumper with two seconds left was off the mark.
The game was tied for the 11th and final time on a pair of Mueller free throws with 2:18 left in the overtime. Lawrence took the lead for good on a Hurley free throw with 1:55 left, and Carroll then turned the ball over on its next two possessions. The Vikings converted three free throws during that short stretch to lead 93-89 with 35 seconds left.
After a missed 3-pointer by Nate Zimmerman, Tommy Schmidt grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He knocked down both free throws to put Lawrence up 95-89. After Mueller banked in a 3-pointer, Kadison was fouled and converted 1 of 2 from the foul line to give Lawrence a 96-92 lead with eight seconds left.
Ladwig then drained a long 3-pointer with four seconds left, and Kroeger was fouled on the inbounds. He made both free throws with 1.2 seconds left to seal the victory.
Lawrence won its fourth MWC Tournament title in the last five seasons and fifth overall. This is the fifth time Lawrence has played in the NCAA Tournament, and the Vikings own the best mark in NCAA tourney play among Midwest Conference teams at 5-4.