The Bison Men’s Basketball squad entered Thursday night on an eight-game win streak, last playing against Cal State Bakersfield on December 23rd.
The first half of this matchup was kept very close up until the five-thirty mark, when a Drake Dobbs three point make stretched the Tommie’s lead to 12. The Bison would go on to close the gap before halftime, with the help of seven made free throws in the last four minutes. A Brennan Watkins three-point make gave the Bison the lead with under a minute to go in the half, but Kendall Blue would answer back with his own three- point bucket, to give St. Thomas a 41-39 lead going into the break.
St Thomas would come out of the half doing their best to hold onto the lead. With under 12 to play, a Jacksen Moni made three brought the Bison faithful to their feet, as NDSU saw their first lead of the second half.
North Dakota State and St. Thomas would go back and forth trading buckets down the stretch, when a Jacari White lay-up had the Bison up two with three minutes left to play. With a little over a minute to play in the game, a Drake Dobbs made three pointer would give the Tommie’s a three-point lead, a lead they wouldn’t see go.
Two Drake Dobbs free throw makes would put this game on ice, finishing in an 89-85 win for St. Thomas, to open up their Summit League schedule.
Senior Jacksen Moni continued his stretch of great basketball, leading the Bison in scoring with 25 points, making four of his six three-point attempts. Junior Brennan Watkins also had an efficient night, dropping 18 points on 6-10 shooting.
St. Thomas was lead In scoring by Miles Barnstable. The junior guard scored 20 points. Senior Drake Dobbs also finished with 18 points.
The Bison are back at it at the Scheels Arena Saturday, hosting the Omaha Mavericks. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
*This article was written by Flag Family Media intern Cayden Lloyd*
