The North Dakota State Men’s Basketball team was on the road Saturday, for a trip up I-29 to take on the UND Fighting Hawks.
The Hawks would jump out to an early first half lead, with the help of the three-ball. UND hit three, three-pointers, aiding them in grabbing a 15-9 lead. The first half saw a great defensive presence from both sides, as early on there were multiple gaps of time between scoring possessions. After getting a stop, NDSU would grab the lead back from the Hawks on a Masen Miller three-point bucket with 11 minutes left to play in the half.
This contest would remain a one or two possession game for most of the rest of the first half. Jacari White did nail a three-point shot to give North Dakota State a nine-point advantage with a little over four to play, giving the Bison their biggest lead of the afternoon. Just before going to halftime however, UND’s Deng Mayar would get a steal from Jacksen Moni and would take it the other way, converting a tough “and-1” basket to get the Hawks within three, before Brennan Watkins dished a beauty of an assist to Masen Miller, who connected on a last second three-point shot, to give the Bison a 39-33 lead heading into the break.
UND would do a great job early in the second half of closing the gap. Early on, the Hawks got a little help from everyone. Treysen Eaglestaff made his presence felt again in this matchup, as a made dunk followed by a three-point make, gave UND their first lead since the eight-minute mark of the first half.
The Bison would hang close behind however, never finding themselves down by more than five points. Following another Eaglestaff dunk for UND, Jacksen Moni would cash his first three-point shot of the day, tying this one up at 63 a piece, with just over eight minutes left.
Both teams would match each other’s shots down the stretch. Jacari White would hit another three-point basket to push the Bison ahead by one, with four minutes left. Mambourou Mara would score the next four points for the Hawks and following another Jacksen Moni three-ball, saw this game tied up once again at 75 each. Jacksen Moni would give the Bison a two-point lead again this time via a lay-up. Moments later Eli King was fouled on his shot by Brennan Watkins to give King two free-throw attempts. King would go one for two on the line.
NDSU would have an empty possession following the free-throws and UND would grab the rebound. Off the rebound, Mier Panoam would put up a contested shot, missing it, but grabbing his own miss. Panoam would then put in a jumper, getting fouled by Jacari White in the process and would convert the free-throw giving UND a 79-77 lead, with a minute to play.
Unfortunately, the Bison couldn’t find a basket to tie the game in the final minute as Jacari White was blocked at the rim by Eli King as time expired, resulting in a tough 79-77 loss for the Bison.
Jacari White lead the Bison in scoring with 26 points, grabbing three rebounds. Jacksen Moni and Masen Miller also each finished the loss with 14 points. The loss puts the Bison at 20-10 on the season, 9-6 in Summit League Conference play. NDSU will return home on Wednesday, February 26th, for the last regular season game versus South Dakota. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
*This article was written by Flag Family Media intern Cayden Lloyd*
