FARGO, N.D.--Keith Benson had 22 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks to lead Oakland to an 85-79 victory over North Dakota State in Summit League men's basketball Thursday, Jan. 21, before a crowd of 3,126 at the Bison Sports Arena.

It was the eighth straight win overall and 15th straight in league play for Oakland, which improved to 14-7 overall and 8-0 in the league.  North Dakota State dropped to 6-11 overall and 3-4 in the league.

Ledrick Eackles scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half off the Oakland bench, Johnathon Jones added 16 points and eight assists, Larry Wright scored 13 and Derick Nelson had 10.

Michael Tveidt paced North Dakota State with 21 points, Josh Vaughan made three 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, and Eric Carlson scored 16 for the Bison.

Oakland led 41-30 at halftime and went up by as many as 15 inside the 10-minute mark of the second half before Drew Lundberg's layup capped a 6-0 NDSU run to get the Bison jump-started.

OU's lead was 71-59 with 6:15 to play before NDSU went on a 12-2 run, closing the margin to 73-71 when Lundberg made 1 of 2 free throws with 2:46 left.

Lundberg's defensive rebound on the next possession led to two missed NDSU free throws, and Benson's crowd-deflating dunk on the opposite end made it 75-71.

It was 77-73 before Jones stole an errant NDSU pass and fed Nelson for a breakaway layup that made it a six-point game.

Benson made six of Oakland's eight free throws in the final minute, and the Golden Grizzlies were 16-for-19 at the line overall.  NDSU was 14-for-22.

Oakland made nine 3-pointers in the game and shot 49.2 percent from the floor.  NDSU shot 52.5 percent overall and had a 32-31 rebounding advantage led by Vaughan and Austin Pennick with six apiece.

North Dakota State is scheduled to host IPFW at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23.  The Mastodons slipped to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in The Summit League with a 65-64 loss at South Dakota State on Thursday.