South Dakota fought back from 16 points down in the second half only to see its last second shot from point blank range roll around and out in a 66-65 loss at North Dakota State Wednesday.
South Dakota (9-10, 1-4 Summit) trailed 59-43 with eight minutes left, but had two chances to win the game in the final seconds. Trailing 66-65, Casey Kasperbauer missed a shot from the left elbow with 10 seconds left, but Trey Norris threw the ball behind his back and off an NDSU defender before going out of bounds to give USD a final try. The Coyotes inbounded to guard Shy McClelland who drove down the left side of the lane to the block and put up a shot with his left hand that wouldn’t fall.
Had it gone, the Coyotes would have earned their first win in Fargo since 2002. Instead, it’s the team’s first three-game losing streak in nearly a full year. South Dakota is off next week before hosting Western Illinois next Wednesday.
Kasperbauer and McClelland led South Dakota with 19 and 14 points, respectively, and it was their play down the stretch that helped give the Coyotes a chance. The duo combined for 13 points during the 24-9 run that closed the game. They combined to make 14 of 25 shots during the game.
Kory Brown scored a career-high 21 points and had 15 rebounds to lead the Bison (12-6, 2-2) who had their 31-game home winning streak snapped by Omaha last week. Paul Miller made four 3-pointers and scored 14 points. A.J. Jacobson finished with 13 points. His two free throws with 2:48 left put the Bison in front 66-60.
Austin Sparks’ put back off a USD miss closed the lead to 66-62 with 2:24 left. He was fouled on the other while netting a rebound and made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 66-63.
Dexter Werner got two offensive rebounds during a 78-second possession for NDSU, but the Bison came up empty when Norris’ pressure on Miller forced a turnover. McClelland scored in the paint to make it 66-65 and Norris immediately fouled Khy Kabellis with 21 seconds left. Kabellis missed the front end of the 1-and-1 to set up the final sequence.
NDSU made 10 of 22 three-pointers and were 14 of 18 from the free-throw line. The Bison also had a 39-28 advantage on the boards. The Coyotes shot 45 percent from the field (27 of 60) and scored 19 points off 17 turnovers.
Norris finished with nine points and four assists in 27 minutes off the bench for USD. D.J. Davis added eight points and seven rebounds. He also had career highs in assists (7) and steals (4).
