Heather Bigler, center, with son Nash, 15, and daughter Tatum, 11, before Marshall took on Benilde-St. Margaret's for the Class 3A girls basketball championship at Williams Arena on Saturday. (Patrick Reusse)

The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference had tremendous balance in men’s basketball this season. Eight of the 15 teams finished between 16-6 and 14-8, then Minnesota State Moorhead (15-7) defeated Minot State (14-8) to win the conference tournament.

Five teams wound up in the Division II national tournament and all were assigned to this weekend’s eight-team Central Region in Topeka, Kan., including Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia (St. Paul), the co-champs in the regular season.

There was an intraconference matchup between the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs and the Winona State Warriors at noon to start Saturday’s four-game first round.

Brad Bigler’s Mustangs had started the season 17-3 and then lost star Dunwa Omot to an injury for three weeks. Omot came back, but reports from Marshall were that the Mustangs never found the same groove.

For more on the Biglers, click here to read the story on startribune.com.

Class 3A bracket