The Bison Men’s Basketball Squad was back in action Monday night in Carbondale, Illinois, to
take on the Salukis.
North Dakota State came into Monday night off of a thrilling overtime win in Santa Clara last Thursday night. Seeing a 88-80 win that saw them comeback from as far down as 19 points. This was the sixth all time meeting between the Salukis and the Bison, Southern Illinois held the series advantage coming into Monday 4-1. The last meeting saw another Salukis win, 76-63, on December 19th, 2023.
The Bison started off slow, as they didn’t see a bucket fall through until the 15:42 mark in the first half, a made lay-up by Brennan Watkins had the Bison scoring started, but they already had saw a deficit, as they were down 7-2.
North Dakota State’s shooting numbers were down all half, as they shot just 27 percent as a unit in the first half. During this bad shooting half, the Bison saw their three-point success sitting at 1-16 before the break. Southern Illinois, on the other hand, saw a great first half, as they went
into the locker room up 34-23. A half that never saw an NDSU lead. Southern Illinois came out of the break, maintaining their focus, which resulted in the Salukis outscoring the Bison 35-21 resulting in a final score of 69-44. A second half which never became competitive.
The Bison shooting woes were consistent all game, as they shot 26.5% as a team. They also were 18.5 percent from the three point line. Not a single player for NDSU saw a double-digit scoring night, as guard Jacari White lead the Bison, with nine points in the loss. He saw his hot shooting streak fizzle, as he shot 1-10 from beyond the arc, 4-18 overall. Southern Illinois was lead in scoring by Ali Dibba, the senior turned in a 17-point night with seven rebounds.
NDSU now drops to 2-3 on the season, the Bison are back in Fargo, Thursday night, hosting the Minnesota Crookston Gold Eagles. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., at the Scheels Center.
*This article was written by Flag Family Media intern Cayden Lloyd*
