| Year: | 1999-2000 |
| Class: | 2014 |
| Team: | Men's Basketball |
The following was printed on the 1999-00 Men's Basketball Team's HOF plaque:
The 2000 Siena Heights men’s basketball team posted a 31-8 record and won four tournament titles during one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history. Their 31 wins are tied with two other Fred Smith teams for the most wins in a season for the Saints. Among their four tournament titles during the 1999-2000 season were the 1999 Maple City Classic, their third consecutive National Catholic Basketball Tournament, and the WHAC Tournament.
The Saints shared the regular-season conference title with Aquinas College and earned an automatic bid to the 2000 NAIA Division II National Basketball Championship Tournament with a 78-69 victory over Cornerstone University in the conference championship game. Coach Fred Smith’s club had four players earn All-WHAC honors, including the backcourt duo of Matt Baaki and Mike Brown, small-forward Sean Carlson and center Justin Bascom. As the #5 seed in the 32-team national tournament, the Saints defeated Montreat College (NC) in the first round and followed that up with a 118-93 win over Mount Vernon Nazarene University (OH) in the round of 16. Their 118 points ranks #3 all-time in tournament history for most points scored by a team in the tournament; and their combined 211 points is also the third-highest point total ever scored in a tournament game. The Saints advanced to the tournament semi-finals with a 97-88 victory over the #4-seeded University of Saint Francis (IN) in the quarterfinals. The first-ever Final Four excursion on the Showboat Branson Belle included host College of the Ozarks, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.), Huntington University (Ind.) and the Saints. The Saints’ run ended in a 92-80 loss to #8-seeded, and eventual champion, Embry-Riddle in the semi-finals. Junior forward Jeff Gullekson was the tournament’s leading rebounder (11.5 RPG), and Matt Baaki was named to the All-Tournament Team. At the time of their recognition as a Hall of Fame team, the 2000 Saints included three members of the Siena Heights University Athletic Hall of Fame (Baaki, Carlson & Gullekson).
