North Dakota State Athletics
24-8
Western Illinois
22-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State | 24 | 31 | 55 |
| Western Illinois | 20 | 23 | 43 |
Wright's Five Triples Lead Bison Past Leathernecks 55-43 in Summit League Semifinals
3/12/2013 3:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -TrayVonn Wright made a career-high five 3-pointers to lead No. 3 seed North Dakota State to a 55-43 win over No. 2 seed Western Illinois in the Summit League men's basketball semifinals Monday, March 11, before a crowd of 6,676 at Sioux Falls Arena.
Wright finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, and Taylor Braun added 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists as North Dakota State (24-8) snapped a five-game losing streak to Western Illinois (22-8).
Adam Link had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Fighting Leathernecks, who played without leading scorer Terell Parks and lost point guard Ceola Clark for the final nine minutes due to injury.
Don McAvoy's 3-pointer with 7:05 left in the game capped a 9-2 run by Western Illinois to pull within 39-37, but Wright connected for back-to-back 3-pointers on the next two NDSU possessions.
Western Illinois missed on its next four possessions and the Bison stretched their lead into double digits for the first time on Marshall Bjorklund's layup that made it 47-37 with 2:29 to play.
North Dakota State went 8-for-8 at the foul line - six by Braun and two by Wright - in the final 1:40 of the game to seal the victory.
The Bison never trailed after Wright hit 3-pointers on two of NDSU's first three possessions. The game was tied 14-14 for a span of 4 1/2 minutes before Bjorklund made 1 of 2 free throws to go ahead. NDSU led 24-20 at halftime.
North Dakota State will play No. 1 seed South Dakota State (24-9) in the championship game at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, on ESPN2. The Jackrabbits beat No. 5 seed Fort Wayne 72-56 in the first semifinal.
