SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara raced out to a 19-point lead in the first half, but the North Dakota State men's basketball team put together an improbable comeback to earn an 88-80 overtime victory on Wednesday night at the Leavey Center.
 
The Broncos went up 37-18 with just under four minutes remaining in the first half. The Bison trimmed the deficit to 10 at 39-29 at halftime.
 
NDSU pulled within four at 39-35 less than two minutes into the second half. The comeback run was 17-2 for the Bison over a stretch of 5:45 spanning halftime.
 
Santa Clara stretched the lead back to 10 at 57-47, but NDSU once again battled to cut the margin to four at 61-57 with 5:40 to play. A three-pointer by Masen Miller got the Bison as close as three at 66-63 with 2:05 left.
 
With NDSU trailing 70-65, Jacari White drained a deep three-pointer with 7.6 seconds remaining. The Bison fouled on the ensuing possession, Santa Clara missed the front end of a one-and-one at the free throw line, and Brennan Watkins raced the length of the floor, drawing a foul as time expired to earn two free throws. He made both to force overtime, tied at 70-70.
 
The Bison put up 18 points in the overtime period – nine coming from Jacksen Moni – to seal the victory.
 
White and Moni both scored 19 points to lead NDSU, and Watkins scored a season-high 14. White added six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
 
The Bison made 15-of-32 (47 percent) from three-point range in the game.
 
Santa Clara was picked third in the West Coast Conference preseason poll behind Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.
 
The Bison will play next at Southern Illinois on Monday, Nov. 18.