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VERMILLION, S.D. – Dexter Werner made a pair of free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining to lift the North Dakota State men's basketball team to a 70-69 road victory over South Dakota on Wednesday night at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
 
With NDSU trailing 69-68 and 28 seconds on the clock, South Dakota's Matt Mooney missed two free throws that would have expanded the Coyotes' lead. Werner ripped down the rebound and ultimately drew a foul at the other end with 5.3 seconds left. He had been 3-for-5 at the charity stripe in the game before making the two game-winning free throws.
 
South Dakota's Trey Dickerson missed an off-balance three-point attempt with one second left, and the Bison moved to 4-0 for their best Summit League start since the 2012-13 season.
 
Bison junior Paul Miller had the second-best scoring game of his career, finishing with 26 points and a career-high six three-pointers. Werner posted 17 points and seven rebounds.
 
NDSU (12-5 overall, 4-0 Summit) jumped out to a 13-3 lead less than five minutes into the game and pushed its advantage to as many as 17 points at 32-15 with 7:45 left before halftime.
 
South Dakota (12-8 overall, 3-2 Summit) was a perfect 8-0 in the new Sanford Coyote Sports Center entering Wednesday's contest. After trailing 41-28 at halftime, the Coyotes rallied to take a 58-57 lead with 6:23 remaining.
 
South Dakota was up 67-63 with 1:48 left in the game before Khy Kabellis drained a corner three to give NDSU a shot of life. After South Dakota's Carlton Hurst scored with a dunk, Werner responded with a bucket in the lane to set the score at 69-68.
 
NDSU is off to its best Summit League start since beginning league play 7-0 in the 2012-13 season.
 
The Bison shot 9-of-22 (41 percent) from three-point range in the game, led by a 6-for-10 effort from Miller and a 3-for-5 performance by Kabellis.
 
The Bison will travel to take on the Denver Pioneers on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 5 p.m. CT / 4 p.m. MT.