The Dominican University men's basketball team secured their spot in the 2017 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament on Wednesday night with an 87-81 victory over the Concordia University Chicago Cougars at the Igini Sports Forum.
 
Trying to snap a two-game losing skid, the Stars fell behind by as many as 12 in the first half and trailed 48-39 at the break as Concordia Chicago's Mitch Pelissier scored 20 of his game-high 33 points in the opening 20 minutes.  The Cougars shot better than 57-percent from the field and connected on six of nine three-point attempts to open the early lead.  Conversely, the Stars struggled offensively, converting at just a 36-percent clip from the field.
 
Baskets did not come a whole lot easier in the second half, but the Stars were able to dig in defensively, holding the Cougars to just 33 second half points on 36-percent shooting which included just two of 11 from behind the three-point arc.
 
After Israel Dosie's layup with 15:01 put extended the Concordia Chicago lead to ten, 59-49 with 15:00 to play, the Stars went on a 8-0 run over the next 2:15, capped by a Mike Lizak three to angle the lead all the way down to two, 59-57, with 12:45 to play.
 
Ninety seconds later it was another Lizak three that gave Dominican their first lead of the second half at 64-63.
 
The sides traded leads for the next five minutes with a Pelissier layup giving the Cougars their final lead of the night, 76-74 with 5:36 remaining.
 
A long Dominican possession saw three offensive rebounds for the Stars and ended with Kevin Mack at the foul line, evening the score at 76-76.  After a stop on the defensive end, Tim Robertson knocked down a baseline jumper on the fastbreak to put Dominican on top for good.
 
Concordia managed just four points over the final five minutes while the Stars converted on seven of eight free throw attempts down the stretch.
 
Dominican put five scorers in double-figures paced by Josh Mayberry's 18.  Robertson added 14 and a game-high 13 rebounds while Isaac Moore connected on three of five three-point attempts, finishing with 13 points. Ben Walker added 12 for his seventh double-digit effort while Mack dropped in 13 points and pulled down six rebounds in just ten minutes.
 
For the Cougars, Pelissier's 33 led three in double-figures with Dosie finishing with 16 and Kris Claybon adding 15.
 
The win improved the Stars to 12-12 on the season and 9-10 in the NACC.  The Stars, making their first appearance in the NACC Tournament since 2013, have locked into the sixth-seed in the tournament and meet the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons in the quarterfinals next Wednesday.  Before that, the Stars will close out the 2016-2017 regular season on Saturday, hosting the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors at 4:15 p.m. in the Igini Sports Forum.