Bison Drop Tight One at Oral Roberts, 66-65

Saturday, January 9

Tulsa, Okla.

7 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

11-6, 1-2SL

Oral Roberts

9-9, 1-3SL

Team	1	2	F
North Dakota State	32	33	65
Oral Roberts	30	36	66

Photo by: David Walden

Bison Drop Tight One at Oral Roberts, 66-65

1/9/2016 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PDF Box Score

TULSA, Okla. – The North Dakota State men's basketball team cut a 10-point second half deficit to one, but an 18-foot jumper from Dexter Werner missed at the buzzer, and Oral Roberts escaped with a 66-65 victory on Saturday evening.

NDSU (11-6 overall, 1-2 Summit) lost consecutive Summit League games for the first time since January 2013.

Junior forward Dexter Werner posted his second double-double of the season to lead the Bison, finishing with a season-high 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Oral Roberts (9-9 overall, 1-3 Summit) was led by 13 points apiece from senior guard Obi Emegano and sophomore center Albert Owens.

The Bison scored the first seven points of the game and held a 32-30 lead at halftime. With the game tied at 34-34, the Golden Eagles put together a 10-0 run keyed by seven straight points from Emegano. ORU led 44-34 with 16:48 remaining.

NDSU never overcame the 10-point deficit. The Bison pulled within two following a layup by Werner with 2:45 left. A.J. Jacobson later converted a three-point play that had NDSU within one at 64-63 with 10.6 seconds on the clock.

A pair of free throws by ORU's Jalen Bradley made the score 66-63, but Jacobson made both free throws at the other end after ORU elected to foul. Leading 66-65 with 3.5 seconds left, Oral Roberts committed a turnover on the inbound pass.

With 3.2 seconds remaining, NDSU struggled with its own inbound pass in front of the Bison bench. Werner scooped up the loose ball after a deflection, but his 18-foot jumper missed at the buzzer.

Jacobson finished with 13 points for NDSU. Kory Brown had six points, seven rebounds and four assists.

NDSU returns home to host South Dakota on Wednesday, Jan. 13, and South Dakota State on Saturday, Jan. 16 next week.