Box Score FARGO, N.D.--North Dakota State's football team kept its playoff hopes alive with a crushing 58-24 non-conference football victory over Concordia-St. Paul at the Fargodome on Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale.

The Bison used an opportunistic defense that came up with three scores and a solid offensive performance by mainstays Rod Malone and Tony Stauss. Malone ran for 104 yards and scored three times on runs of nine, one, and 27 yards; Stauss completed 22 of 30 passes for 317 yards and two scores; and Matt Gorman returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown and a fumble seven yards for a second score.

The Bison defense also scored on a safety when Mike Sheppard blocked a punt in the end zone and it was recovered and run out of the back of the end zone by the Golden Bears.

The win improved NDSU to 8-3 on the season but the Bison will have to wait until Sunday afternoon to find out if they will advance to the NCAA Division II playoff field. Of NDSU's losses, two were in overtime (to North Dakota and St. Cloud State) and one was to a I-AA team (Cal-Davis).

The Bison received some encouraging news with losses to regional ranked teams Emporia State (second) and Pittsburg State (fourth) on the final day of the regular season but will it be enough to vault the 5th-ranked regional Bison into the four-team field?

NDSU moved ahead 7-3 on a 10-yard run by wide receiver Allen Burrell mid-way through the opening quarter and added a safety on the blocked punt for a 9-3 lead after one quarter of play.

The Bison iced the game in the second quarter with a 28-point explosion. Travis White hauled in a 26-yard pass from Stauss and Malone scored all three of his TDs and State took a 37-10 lead into the lockerroom.

North Dakota State extended the margin to 58-10 in the second half with Gorman's pass interception return mid-way through the third quarter, a 20-yard scoring pass from Stauss to tight end Mike Wieser early in the fourth quarter, and Gorman's fumble return just 18 seconds later.

The Bears cut the gap with two touchdown passes in the final seven minutes.

NDSU finished with 436 yards of offense including 117 on the ground and 319 in the air. Concordia, picking up 124 yards on the two scoring drives in the fourth quarter, finished with 357 including 260 in the air.

However, the Bison came up with four turnovers in the game including two interceptions and two fumble recoveries and sacked CU-SP quarterbacks five times.