North Dakota State
14-7
IPFW
8-15
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State | 39 | 30 | 69 |
| Fort Wayne | 27 | 45 | 72 |
Foul Trouble Buries Bison at IPFW, 72-69
2/8/2007 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FORT WAYNE, Ind.--North Dakota State guard Mike Nelson hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points, but his 3-pointer at the buzzer was blocked and IPFW escaped with a 72-69 victory over the Bison in college men's basketball Thursday, Feb. 8.
IPFW broke its four-game losing streak and improved to 8-15, while the Bison had their six-game winning streak snapped in slipping to 14-7 on the year.
Nelson's second 3-pointer of the game gave North Dakota State 9-7 lead just more than three minutes into the first half, and the Bison led until the final 90 seconds of the game.
IPFW forward DeWitt Scott hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 68, and Jakari Johnson's two free throws a minute later gave the Mastodons a 70-69 lead.
Scott made two free throws at the :07.1 mark that held up for the win.
The Bison had three turnovers in their final three possessions before Nelson's game-tying attempt was blocked by Demetrius Johnson.
North Dakota State dressed eight players and seven played 20 minutes or more.
Three of NDSU's top four scorers had two fouls at halftime, and the Bison lost senior forward Andre Smith to fouls with 4:32 left in the game.
IPFW made 18 of 26 free throws compared to North Dakota State's 7 of 10.
Scott finished with 15 points to lead the Mastodons and four teammates scored in double figures.
Ben Woodside scored 16 points with four assists for NDSU, Smith finished with 13 points, and reserve forward Sam Sussenguth scored a career-high 12 points--all in the first half.
The Bison built a 39-27 halftime lead on 50-percent shooting. That matched their biggest lead of the night at 12 points.
NDSU finished the night shooting 48.2 percent, its first time under .500 since the December 31 loss at Iowa State.
The Mastodons shot 64 percent in the second half and finished the night at 54.5 percent.
IPFW had a 29-24 rebounding edge, led by the game-high seven rebounds of Jaraun Burrows. Sussenguth and Lorenzo Riley each had five boards for NDSU.
North Dakota State travels to New Jersey Tech for a 2 p.m. ET game on Saturday, Feb. 10.
The Highlanders defeated South Dakota State 67-62 on Thursday night to improve to 4-18 on the season.
