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DAVIS, Calif. – The North Dakota State men's basketball team rallied late for an improbable victory at UC Davis on Friday evening in the season opener, winning 79-71 in overtime to snap the Aggies' 14-game home winning streak.
 
Trailing 69-60 with less than two minutes remaining in the game, the Bison scored 19 straight points – nine in a row to force overtime, and then 10 more to open the overtime period. By the time NDSU's remarkable run was over, the Bison held a 79-69 lead with 33 seconds left in OT.
 
UC Davis (0-1) led 69-63 with 31 seconds remaining in the second half before Carlin Dupree made a layup in traffic to cut the deficit to four. Brian Ishola stole the ensuing inbounds pass and found Malik Clements for another layup, making the score 69-67 with 0:21 on the clock.
 
Darius Graham missed a pair of free throws for the Aggies with 16 seconds left, and without a timeout, NDSU senior Kory Brown drove from the left wing into the lane and made the game-tying layup between several defenders with 2.8 seconds left.
 
In overtime, NDSU got four quick points from Dexter Werner and a bucket from A.J. Jacobson to open a 75-69 margin halfway through the extra period.
 
NDSU sophomore guard Paul Miller led all players with a career-high 20 points. Werner posted a double-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, making 8-of-12 shots from the field. Brown recorded a double-double of his own with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Clements, a sophomore transfer, poured in 13 points in 18 minutes off the bench in his NDSU debut.
 
NDSU recorded 14 straight defensive stops from the final two minutes of regulation through overtime. The Bison overcame a 31-9 deficit in free throw attempts in the game.
 
UC Davis is the defending Big West Conference regular season champion after going 25-7 last year.
 
The Bison will travel to Springfield, Ill, to take on Illinois on Sunday at 2 p.m.