Clutch Buckets, Free Throws Earn Bison Men 75-72 Win at Omaha

Thursday, January 8

Omaha, Neb.

7 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

11-5 (3-0)

Omaha

7-8 (1-2)

Team	1	2	F
North Dakota State	34	41	75
Omaha	27	45	72

Photo by: Jeff Becker

Clutch Buckets, Free Throws Earn Bison Men 75-72 Win at Omaha

1/8/2015 10:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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OMAHA, Neb. – The North Dakota State men's basketball team earned a 75-72 road victory over Omaha in Summit League play on Thursday evening at Ralston Arena. The Bison made 24-of-27 free throws, including a perfect 8-of-8 performance at the line in the last 30 seconds, to pull out a win in a game that saw 13 lead changes.

NDSU improves to 11-5 overall and remains unbeaten at 3-0 in The Summit League. The Bison have won five straight games and seven of their last eight.

Senior Lawrence Alexander led NDSU with 18 points, and redshirt freshman A.J. Jacobson scored 17 for the Bison. Dexter Werner and Paul Miller scored 14 and 10 points, respectively, off the NDSU bench. Miller went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the game's final 11 seconds.

Omaha (7-8, 1-2 Summit League) was led by 18 points apiece from Mike Rostampour and Tre'Shawn Thurman.

Despite using only Werner and Miller as substitutes, the Bison posted a 24-5 advantage over Omaha in bench points. NDSU committed an uncharacteristic 20 turnovers in the contest – 11 more than its season average of nine which ranked third in the nation.

NDSU never led by more than seven points in the game. The Bison held a 34-27 lead at halftime, but Omaha battled back to tie the game at 46-46 with just under 10 minutes left. The Mavericks took a brief four-point lead at 52-48 after a three-point play by Devin Patterson with 8:28 remaining.

The Bison exploded for a 13-2 run over the next four minutes, keyed by buckets from Werner and Alexander and capped by an Alexander three-pointer that made it 61-54 with 4:18 left.

Omaha cut the NDSU margin to one point on four occasions in the final three minutes but never regained the lead. NDSU got clutch buckets from Jacobson and Werner to push the lead back to three twice, and Miller salted away the victory with his six free throws in the last 11 seconds.

A potential game-tying three-point attempt by Omaha's Marcus Tyus missed at the buzzer.

Jacobson matched his season-high with eight rebounds, and Carlin Dupree tallied five assists for NDSU.

At 3-0, NDSU is the lone unbeaten team remaining in The Summit League.

The Bison play next at South Dakota on Wednesday, Jan. 14. The game will be broadcast on Midco Sports Network, ESPN3 and the ESPN Full Court package.