North Dakota State forward Dexter Werner made two free throws with 5.3 seconds left and South Dakota’s long 3 at the buzzer missed the mark as the Bison escaped the Sanford Coyote Sports Center with a 70-69 victory.
It was the first loss for the Coyotes (12-8, 3-2 Summit) at their new facility, ending an 8-0 streak. Both of USD’s Summit losses have been by a point and determined in the final seconds. The Bison (12-5, 4-0) are the lone unbeaten team in conference play.
Paul Miller hit a career-high six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 26 points for North Dakota State. Werner scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half and also had the game’s final four points
Trey Burch-Manning scored 15 points and had a game-high eight rebounds for South Dakota, who had five players score in double figures. Tyler Hagedorn came off the bench to score a season-high 14 points. Matt Mooney had 14 points. Trey Dickerson and Carlton Hurst scored 10 points apiece.
North Dakota State led 32-15 past the midway point of the first half and 41-28 at the break. Miller had three 3’s and 11 points in the opening stanza. The Coyotes were 9 of 24 from the field in the first half.
A 21-7 run by the Coyotes during a 10-minute span of the second half flipped the script. Hurst gave South Dakota its first lead of the game at 58-57 with two free throws at the 6:23 mark. Mooney came back with a layup to complete a 10-0 run that put USD ahead 60-57.
