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The Media's Perspective (DDSCB2016)

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Fargo Forum newspaper

 

North Dakota State Opens Summit League Play

 

Conference play began for North Dakota State’s basketball team when Oral Roberts came to town last night. The Golden Eagles had been streaky this year, losing their first two games then winning 4 straight and then going on a 5-game losing streak. The team had scored mostly from the perimeter with little inside scoring.

 

After PG Morgan Scott scored the Golden Eagles’ first 6 points, the Bison double teamed him to keep him from putting up shots. But the Bison suffered from cold shooting and trailed for the first 19 minutes of the game. At that point Evan Williams intercepted a pass and fired it up court to a streaking Kevin Brinker who drove in for a dunk to put the Bison on top by a point. The half ended with the Bison nursing a 28-27 lead. PG Colin Shannon led the Bison scoring with 8 points at the midpoint of the game.

 

The Bison scored the first 7 points of the 2nd half. NDSU held onto a small lead from that point but with 7 minutes to go they went on a run that put them ahead 63-50. Oral Roberts tried to come back, but the Bison’s dominance on the boards and unexpectedly good control of the ball kept the Bison on top for a 69-58 victory.

 

NDSU’s guards carried their offense with PG Colin Shannon dropping in 16 points, SG Kevin Brinker hitting a high percentage of his shots to finish with 13 points, and reserve PG David Miller contributing 11. C Matt Haywood added 9 points plus pulled down 6 rebounds. 

 

After the game, Coach Tad Bolton praised his team by saying, “We fought our way out of an early hole and then in the second half controlled the boards. And we finally got control of turnover problems that had bedeviled us throughout pre-conference play.”

 

Colin Shannon has averaged 19 ppg for the last 5 games and has led the Bison in scoring in 4 of those 5 games. When queried about his scoring proficiency, Shannon responded, “The coaches worked with me on some changes in how I was releasing the ball after reviewing game films of earlier games. That’s improved the arc of my shot and has given me renewed confidence in my shooting. But more importantly I’ve been able to triple the number of assists I was averaging in our first 5 games this season. Taking on the point guard responsibilities has been a learning experience.”

 

This Friday night North Dakota State (7-5, 1-0) travels to take on Western Illinois (8-4, 0-1).

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WDAY TV Late Night Sports Report

 

Before tonight’s game against the Western Illinois Leathernecks, the problem confronting North Dakota State was how to stop the guard due of Dante Porter and Steve Magliore who were averaging a combined 29 ppg in the Leatherneck’s first 12 games this season.

 

While those two guards weren’t stoppable, the Bisons came up with a different way to get around the problem. That was by the Bisons catching fire and hitting 74% of their FG attempts in the first half. They quickly built a double-digit lead and finished the half with a 51-37 lead. Coach Bolton employed a tenacious full court defense extensively that kept the Leathernecks off balance. PG Colin Shannon scored 10 points to lead the Bison offense in the first half. 

 

Early in the 2nd half, NDSU expanded their lead to 20 points as SF Brandon Tracy poured in 11 points in the first 6 minutes of the half. The Bison maintained a big lead the rest of the game. The Leathernecks hit some shots in the final few minutes that cut the final difference to 88-74. The Bison played a second straight game with few turnovers, making just 9 during this game.

 

PF Evan Williams came off the bench to drop in 15 points. C Matt Haywood and SG Kevin Brinker both scored 12 points while SF Brandon Tracy and PG Colin Shannon each had 11 points. Shannon also dished out 4 assists and pulled down 8 rebounds.

 

North Dakota State now sports an 8-5 season record. The Bison are tied for the Summit League lead with South Dakota at 2-0.

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Fargo Forum newspaper

 

Bison improve to 3-0 in Summit League Action

Hosting the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. The Mavericks have had a tough season, winning just 3 of their 13 games and they’re winless in Summit League play.

The first half went according to the Bison game plan. They took an early lead and held onto it, taking a 31-24 advantage to the locker room. The bison had balanced scoring with SF Brandon Tracy scoring 6 to lead the team.

But the Bison couldn’t shake the pesky Mavericks in the 2nd half. Finally with 4-1/2 minutes to play, NDSU carved out a 15 point lead. North Dakota State kept their spotless record intact by finishing with a 64-52 victory.

Reserve PG David Miller led the Bison scoring with 12 points, while starters PG Colin Shannon and SF Brandon Tracy scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Shannon also had 5 assists and 5 rebounds. No players on the Mavericks scored in double figures and their top scorer, SF Albert Callahan who had been averaging over 13 ppg was held scoreless.

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Bison Blog

 

Thursday night the NCSU Bison travelled to Fort Wayne, Indiana for a game against the IPFW Mastodons (8-6, 1-2).

 

SG Kevin Brinker picked up 2 fouls in the first two minutes. His replacement, Kelsey Brown was saddled with 2 fouls four minutes later. The Mastodons’ SG Armand Marsh was charged with his 2nd foul just 7-1/2 minutes into the game. His replacement picked up 2 fouls after just 3 minutes on the court. Obviously, the refs didn’t like shooting guards. In the first half 14 fouls were charged against IPFW and 13 against the Bison. 

 

If it weren’t for the refs whistles blowing continuously, the crowd probably would have realized an exciting basketball game was being played with 16 lead changes and 9 ties. At the half, NDSU led 33-32. If NDSU hadn’t been a -7 in rebounds and had they been able to hit more than 61% of their free throws, their lead would even have been larger. Six Bison players had 2 fouls apiece and 4 Mastodons had 2 fouls apiece with one of their players sidled with 3. Reserve PG Cliff Evans was the top scorer for the Bison with 9 points.

 

After falling behind by 8 points midway through the 2nd half, the Bison rallied to draw with a single point with 4:37 to go. Then with 2-1/2 minutes left, Colin Shannon hit a 3 that put the Bison on top 58-57. IPFW came right back to score inside and retake the lead by a point. The Mastodons then scored the next 4 points. That was a deficit that was more than the Bison could overtake. The final score was IPFW-66, NDSU-59.

 

IPFW out-rebounded the Bison 36-25 and dominated inside on the offensive end of the court, outscoring the Bison 30-14 in the paint and 16-2 on 2nd chance shots. Leading scorers for the Bison were SF Brandon Tracy with 11 points, and PG David Miller with 9. 

 

The loss dropped the Bison to 9-6, 3-1 and into a 2nd place tie in the Summit League. Their next game will be at home against league-leading South Dakota State.

 

After the game both coaches complained about the officiating. “Our rhythm was continually interrupted by all the whistles,” said NDSU Coach Bolton. 

 

Beyond losing the game, two Bison players sustained injuries. SF Michael Daniels sprained an ankle and SG Kelsey Brown injured his knee. Both are expected to miss at least the next game. Coach Bolton commented, “Our bench definitely will be short for the game against the Jackrabbits. We need to stay out of foul trouble.” When asked about rebounding, Bolton responded, “After dominating the boards early this season, this is the third straight game in which our opponents have controlled the boards. We can’t afford to let this continue so we’ll definitely will be working on this in practice.”

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NDSU News, college newspaper

 

Bison Take Hop Out of Jackrabbits

 

SF Michael Daniels didn’t suit up for NDSU’s game last night due to his sprained ankle, but SG Kelsey Brown was in uniform. Before the game against South Dakota State, Coach Tad Bolton said, “Kelsey’s knee is better, but we’re going to be cautious and keep him out of action unless we become too short-handed.”

 

After a lackluster pre-conference season, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits won their first 3 Summit League games to sit atop the standings. While not a good-shooting team, the Jackrabbits rebounding had carried them.

 

Turnovers plagued the Bison early, but PF James Hall scored their first 9 points to give them a 2-point lead with 14:19 to go in the first half. The Bison expanded their lead to 20-9 midway through the half. Even though NDSU had 10 turnovers in the first half, they out-rebounded South Dakota State 18-12 and left the court with a 30-22 advantage. PF James Hall led their scoring with 10 points plus had 4 rebounds.

 

The Bison applied a daunting defense in the 2nd half and pulled away steadily building a 58-35 lead with 6 minutes left in the game. Coach Bolton emptied the bench at that point. The Bison finished the game with a 64-45 victory giving them a 10-6, 4-1 record and catapulting them back into a tie for the Summit League lead.

 

Keys to the win were a 39-27 rebounding advantage, holding the Jackrabbits shooting to 32% and limiting South Dakota State’s 3-point shooting to 1 of 18. PF James Hall had a big game with 16 points and 9 rebounds. SF Brandon Tracy added 11 points. 

 

After the game, James Hall commented, “The guys were getting the ball to me down inside for some good looks at the basket and scoring early gave me a lot of confidence. Our entire team was pounding the boards tonight. The coaching staff really has been on us the past few days on anticipating, positioning, blocking out, and working hard to pull down rebounds and tonight it paid off.”

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Pepper Thorlakson, KFOG—excerpts of radio play-by-play

 

Hey, Bison fans! This is Pepper Thorlakson bringing you tonight’s game against the Denver Pioneers. Denver has a 5-10 record and is in 6th place in the Summit League with a 1-3 record. Offensively they are powered by SG Derrick Williams who is averaging 17 points per game. PG Dionsio Williams and SF Reggie Sims are also good scorers from the perimeter, averaging 8.8 and 8.4 ppg respectively. Defensively Denver sports a 3-2 zone so we will see if the Bison are able to crack it.

The Bison are nearly back to full-strength with SG Kelsey Brown being ready to play. But SF Michael Daniels is suited up but is unlikely to play to give his tender ankle a little more rest.
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Trailing 5-0, Matt Haywood picks off an outlet pass. Haywood turns and lofts up a pass for a sweet alley oop by Brandon Tracy!
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Reggie Sims hits a jumper and is fouled. The Pioneers have now hit 7 of 10 field goals. Sims’ free throw is good putting Denver ahead 18-12 with 11:43 to go in the first half.
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Denver continues their hot shooting as Derrick Williams drops in a tough shot to put them ahead 24-15.
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Alfred Jeffries scores inside and is fouled by Jaron Dickerson making it 35-20 in favor of Denver. The Bison continue to look flat and asleep on defense.
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Phew! The half mercifully ends. The Bison trail 42-27 and have played lackadaisically. Denver holds a 13-9 rebounding advantage and has hit 62% of their shots compared to NDSU’s 39% shooting. The lone bright spot of the Bison has been SF Brandon Tracy who scored 13 of their 27 points. For Denver, SF Reggie Simms has 14 and SG Derrick Williams 12.
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Brandon Tracy hits his second straight 3, but the Bison still are behind by a 53-39 score with 13:31 to go. That’s 19 points for Tracy.
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Derrick Williams makes both free throws and Denver expands their lead to 62-45 with 9:18 on the clock.
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The buzzer sounds. NDSU gets lambasted by an 80-62 score. That loss will drop them into a 3rd place tie in the league.
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Wrapping up, the Bison defense was atrocious tonight, allowing the Pioneers to pour in 61% of their shots. NDSU had 20 turnovers and they were a -3 in rebounds. SF Reggie Simms zapped them for 26 points. For the Bison, SF Brandon Tracy scored 22 and PG Colin Shannon added 11.

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WVLY TV

 

Tad Bolton’s first season as head coach for the NDSU Bison has been a bit of a roller coaster. After winning 5 of their first 7 games, the team lost their final two pre-conference games to go into Summit League play with a 5-4 record. They then rolled off 3 straight league victories to streak to the top of league standings before dropping 2 of their last 3 games. Their 4-2 record had them tied for 3rd in the Summit League. 

Tonight, following South Dakota State’s loss earlier in the day, the North Dakota State Bison had a chance to get back on top of the league as they hosted the South Dakota Coyotes. South Dakota came into the game with a 9-7, 4-1 record. The Coyotes’ big center Roland Mullahon anchored the Coyotes, scoring 16.6 ppg.
Poor shooting in the first half nearly crippled the Bison. But fouls mounted against the Coyotes, allowing the Bison to gradually build a small lead. At the half, NDSU led 39-35. SF Brandon Tracy led the team offensively at that point with 14 points.

NDSU found the scoring touch in the 2nd half. Their lead expanded to 10 with 14:45 remaining. Then with 7:15 to go, the Bison were up by 20. From there they cruised to an 80-65 victory that put them into sole possession of the Summit League lead. On the season they are 11-7 and they are now 5-2 in league play. 

The Bison finished the game +11 in turnovers. SF Brandon Tracy dropped in 20 points plus had 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. C/PF Evan Williams tossed in 19 points and SG Kevin Brinker added 14. NDSU held South Dakota's C Roland Mullahon to just 11 points.

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NDSU News, college newspaper

 

Bison Fall Out of First Place

Last night NDSU’s basketball team went on the road to take on last-place IUPUI. The Bison deployed a devastating defense throughout the early stages of the 1st half, allowing them to open an eleven point lead. But in the last 5 minutes of the half, both their defense and offense fell apart letting IUPUI creep back into the game. The Jaguars tied the game with 2 minutes to go in the half. NDSU escaped with a razor-thin 28-27 lead going to the break. 

But in the 2nd half NDSU’s abysmal shooting together with numerous turnovers led to their undoing. IUPUI pulled away to a carve out a convincing 56-43 victory. That lowered the Bison’s league record to 5-3 and dropped them into 3-way tie for 2nd place. Western Illinois took over first place with their 6th straight win. SF Brandon Tracy (10 points) was the only Bison to score in double figures. He also pulled won 9 rebounds. 

Following the game, Coach Bolton said, “It was disappointing how we fell behind in the 2nd half. We have to work on consistency and developing a killer instinct. But give the Jaguars credit. They got us out of sync in the 2nd half and continued to apply pressure until the end of the game.”

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Big Benbo Jamanian, KNDU Radio

 

Hey Bison Fans! This is Big Benbo Jamanian with your Wednesday night sports news. You know I came to school here from Indiana, the HOME of basketball. My friends from back home gave me one devil of a time coming to a football school. But FINALLY in my junior year here, I’m getting the sense that our new coach and this team are moving the basketball program here in the right direction. I know that following our team’s disappointing performance against IUPUI earlier this week, that you might be asking what the heck I’m talking about. But the Bison basketballers have shown glimpses of knowing what they are doing on the court, blending their skills well, and having the fire to inspire.

 

Tomorrow they take on the Golden Eagles from Oral Roberts University. The Golden Eagles have a sub-.500 record this year, but it’s primarily because they are winless on the road. When playing at home they’re 7-4, so the Bison will have their jobs cut out for them tomorrow night. Oral Roberts scoring comes primarily from the outside, with their two guards and small forward all averaging in double figures. So the Bison can’t allow any of those 3 to break out. I’m hoping the Bison come out thinking they have something to prove after their embarrassing loss at home a few days ago. Kevin Brinker, the Bison starting SG, has been hitting over 50% of this FG attempts, but he needs to put up more shots. I’d also like to see our interior guys take advantage of what appears to be a weaker set of inside opponents when they go up against Oral Roberts. 

 

I’ll follow up with you after the Bison finish their game tomorrow night.

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Big Benbo Jamanian, KNDU Radio

 

Hey Bison Fans! This is Big Benbo Jamanian here to talk about the Bison’s game against Oral Roberts earlier this evening.

 

You probably already know the final score which was Oral Roberts 65, North Dakota State 56.

 

Oral Roberts hit 4 of their first 5 shots to take a small lead early and they due to continued weak defense by the Bison, expanded their lead to 11 points midway through the first half. At the end of the half, the Bison trailed 43-31. 17 fouls had been called against to the Bison while just 6 were called on the Golden Eagles. That allowed Oral Roberts to take 16 more free throws and score 13 more points from the line that the Bison. SF Brandon Tracy and SG Kevin Brinker combined for 16 points, but both of those starters were saddled with 3 personal fouls. Oral Roberts SG Roland Hayes led all scorers with 11 points.

 

In the 2nd half, the Bison defense gelled, but their offense never caught fire. While they cut the lead to 6 points twice, they were unable to get close enough to put a fear into the Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts went on to win by 9 points while getting 19 more free throw attempts and 14 more points at the line. NDSU was unable to gain control inside, being both outscored and outrebounded by Oral Roberts’ interior players. The only Bison player to score in double figures was SG Kevin Brinker with 12 points. 

 

The loss dropped the Bison record to 11-9 and their league record to 5-4 as they slipped into a 3rd place tie, 2 games behind Western Illinois. The team needs to regroup and turn the momentum around soon.

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Pepper Thorlakson, KFOG—excerpts of radio play-by-play

 

Bison Fans! Welcome to tonight’s Bison game against the Western Illinois Leathernecks. The floundering NDSU team, now on a 2 game losing streak and mired in the middle of the Summit League standings, takes on a team that has a 7 game win streak and sits on the.....wait for it....summit....of the Summit League standings. Can the Bison team turn things around? This will be a big test for them.

It looks like Coach Tad Bolton is trying to shake the team up a bit. He’s stuck with a set starting lineup throughout the season, but tonight, he has replaced James Hall with Evan Williams at PF in an attempt to infuse more offense early. But the tradeoff is the loss of Halls’ rebounding prowess.

For the Leathernecks, they’re led offensively by SG Stevie Magliore. But Magliore is nursing an injured wrist that has kept him out of the past two games. So we’ll see if his shooting is hampered by the injury. If it is, no worry for Western Illinois, because PG Dante Porte and SF Calvin Thomas have shown the ability to take up the slack and put points on the scoreboard.
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PG Colin Shannon tosses the ball away again. The Bison have turned the ball over 3 of their first 4 possessions in this game.
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Wow. Both teams are tight. 9 total turnovers in the first 4-1/2 minutes. The score remains 4-4. The refs give the ball over to North Dakota State.
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Brandon Tracy knocks down another 3 to give him 8 points and put the Bison ahead 17-12 with 10-1/2 minutes to play in the first half.
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Shannon cuts around the screen and puts up a 14-foot jumper that drops through the net to put North Dakota State up 25-15 with 7:34 on the clock.
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Magliore’s long 3 cuts the lead to 7. That’s 8 points for Magliore, so it looks like he’s shaken off the impact of his injured wrist.
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Daniels fouls James Hall under the basket. That’s the 7th foul on the Leathernecks. Hall goes to the line for a one-and-one. He drops through his first free throw. And now his second is good also. That makes it 31-22 in favor of the Bison with 3:38 to go in the half.
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Shannon gets the ball back on the pick and roll and darts into the lane. He muscles up a shot and is fouled. Shannon’s first shot is off the mark. He drills the second free throw to make the score NDSU-32, Western Illinois-24. The Leathernecks inbound the ball with 53 seconds on the clock.
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Tracy fires up a 3 as the buzzer sounds and it’s GOOD! The puts the Bison on top 35-26 at the half. NDSU achieved this by hitting 56% of their FG attempts compared to the Leathernecks’ 35% shooting. Brandon Tracy leads all scorers with 11 points and has yet to miss a shot.
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The Bison have come out stone-cold in the 2nd half and with 14:39 to go, there’s a timeout. Western Illinois have closed the gap to 39-34.
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Tracy gets around his man and drives to the hoop. He dunks it to make it 48-39 in favor of the Bison with 12 minutes left in the game. That’s 16 points for Tracy.
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Shannon’s sinks a long 3 pointer to give the Bison a 10-point lead with 7 minutes to go. Shannon now has 15 points.
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James Hall gets the ball inside, he turns and pushes his way toward the basket, pulling back to put up a 5 foot shot over the defender. It’s in and he was fouled on the shot. Hall goes to the line and completes the 3-point play to make the score 62-49.
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Magliore gets free for a 3. Swish! That cuts the lead to 4 points with 1:38 to play.
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The buzzer sounds. NDSU scores a 74-66 victory! The win moves them into a 2nd place tie just a game behind Western Illinois.
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For the Bison, PG Colin Shannon scored 21 points and SF Brandon Tracy hit every shot he took to score 20 points. PF James Hall added 9. While SG Kevin Brinker was held scoreless, he dished out 5 assists, pulled down 7 rebounds, and had 2 steals and a block. 

The Leathernecks’ PF Bryan Daniels scored 17 points and hauled in 14 rebounds.

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“Unofficial NorDakStater”—a blog by Ron Slocum

 

Following a big win earlier this week, North Dakota State’s basketball team took to the road to take on the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. Coming into the game, the Mavericks were in last place in the Summit League with a 3-7 record while the Bison owned a 6-4 league record. For the season, the Mavericks were 6-15, but 5 of their 6 wins came at home.

 

C Ian Leatherman (13.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.4 spg, and 0.7 bpg) and SF Albert Callahan (12.2 ppg and 5.0 rpg) had led the Nebraska-Omaha squad throughout the season.

 

NDSU’s SF Brandon Tracy strained his wrist so had missed practice this week, but suited up for the game even though his condition is listed as less than 100%.

 

The Bison had a hard time getting the ball in the hoop early in the first half while the Mavericks hit their shots and held a small lead until midway through the half. NDSU clawed their way back into the game and took a small lead, but then their shooting went flat again dropping them into a 35-28 halftime deficit. PF Evan Williams came off the bench to infuse life in the middle portion of the half. He led all scorers with 11 points.

 

The Mavericks came out hot in the 2nd half and opened a 20 point lead with 14-1/2 minutes to play. The Bison cut the lead to 9 points but couldn’t get closer and ended up losing 85-68. Nebraska-Omaha shredded the Bison defense by hitting 67% of their FG attempts and 64% of their 3’s.

 

Two subs led the Bison scoring. PF Evan Williams knocked down 22 points and SF Michael Daniels added 11.

 

The loss dropped NDSU into 4th place in the Summit League with a 6-5 record.

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WDAY TV Late Night News Sports Report

 

 

Tonight the North Dakota State Bison basketball team hosted the IPFW Mastadons to try to claw their way into a tie for 2nd place with the Mastadons in the Summit League. The Bison scored the first 10 points of the game with aggressive defensive play. But IPFW roared back to score 12 unanswered points and take the lead. The lead shifted back and forth but IPFW took over at the end of the first half to carve out a 42-36 advantage. 15 team fouls against the Bison set the Mastadons where they hit 18 free throws, 11 more than North Dakota State. SF Brandon Tracy scored 8 first half points.

 

In the second half, the Bison started off quickly again and regained the lead at 45-44 after just 3 minutes of play. Midway through the 2nd half, NDSU led 58-53. The Bison gradually increased their lead to win it 75-66 thus moving up into a 2nd place tie in the Summit League. PG Colin Shannon led their scoring with 12 points and SF Brandon Tracy added 10 while PG Cliff Evans and PF Evan Williams came off the bench to each score 9 points. Twelve players scored for the Bison. IPFW was led by C LyRyan Canty who scored 19 and pulled down 8 rebounds.

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Fargo Forum newspaper

 

Last night the NDSU Bison travelled to Brookings, SD to take on the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, a team trailing the Bison by ½ game in the Summit League. A rabid ‘Rabbit crowd was on hand to root on the home team. 

The Bison played dispiritedly during throughout the entire first half, committing 14 turnovers and hitting just 39% of their shots.  That allowed the Jackrabbits to build a 41-23 halftime advantage.  South Dakota State’s SF Darrell Toton burned the Bison with 16 points in the half.

 

The Jackrabbits held the Bison off in the 2nd half and rolled to a 73-52 lopsided victory which drops the Bison into 4th place in the Summit League.  SF Brandon Tracy led the anemic Bison attack with just 10 points.  For South Dakota State, the two starting guards, Chris Criddle and Darrell Toton, combined for 42 points.

 

Following the game, Coach Tad Bolton said, “We can’t let the crowd take us out of games on the road.  It’s totally unacceptable.  We just never got our offense in gear and let the Jackrabbits steadily draw away in a game in which we should have challenged them.”

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“Unofficial NorDakStater”—a blog by Ron Slocum

 

The Bison basketballers up-and-down season marched on last night when they hosted the Denver Pioneers. With reserve PF Jaron Dickerson shelved the rest of the season with a torn ACL, the team’s weak interior was even more stretched. 1st Assistant Coach Jason Jones remarked, “We might resort to using Michael Daniels to sub at PF. While not carrying the bulk we’d like for the position, he has the height and has been shooting well in his reserve role at SF this season.” 

A challenge for the Bison in the game was to try to limit SG Derrick Williams, who has been scoring 16.4 ppg thus far this season.

The Bison hit just 32% of their first half shots plus turned the ball over 10 times allowing the Pioneers to take a 24-19 lead to the locker room. 

Early in the 2nd half, the Bison hit 3 straight 3 pointers to jump ahead 33-28. But the Pioneers then scored the next 10 points. After the Bison fell behind by as much as 8 points, SF Brandon Tracy hit a 3 with just under 2 minutes to play that cut the Pioneers’ lead to 48-46. But NDSU was unable to score again and dropped a critical home game by the score of 53-46.

An anemic offense cost the Bison again. They only were able to drop in 31% of their shots. There were no offensive stars for the Bison, but SF Brandon Tracy led their scoring with 12 points. But another reason for the defeat was that NDSU had 19 turnovers compared to Denver’s 10. Derrick Williams led Denver’s scoring with 15 points.

The loss dropped NDSU’s season record to 13-12 and their league record to 7-7. They now have dropped to 5th place in the Summit League. After 10 straight victories at home, tonight was the first home loss for the Bison this season.

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Pepper Thorlakson, KFOG—excerpts of radio play-by-play

 

Following two disappointing losses, North Dakota State enters tonight’s game in tenuous position. Should they lose a 3rd straight game tonight, they will drop yet another notch in the league since South Dakota is just a half-game behind them going into this game. The Coyotes are led offensively by C Roland Mullahon who is averaging 16.8 ppg.
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Kevin Brinker sinks both free throws to give the Bison an 11-0 lead with 14:24 to play in the half.
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Erik Pettway steps in front of Hall and steals the ball. A great outlet pass to Yeaton who drives up court and lays it in to score South Dakota’s first points and cut the lead to 13-2. The Bison inbound the ball with 13:21 to go in the half.
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As the Bison press, Jones takes the inbound pass for the Coyotes, his pass is picked off by Haywood who tosses a sweet ally-oop pass to Kelsey Brown who jams it down. Brown was fouled on the shot. He drops in the free throw to give the Bison a 16-5 lead.
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The Bison work the ball around, Dickerson takes the pass down low. He flips it over to Hall who puts up a 10 foot jumper that swishes through the silk to put North Dakota State ahead 25-11 with 6-1/2 minutes left in the half.
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The buzzer sounds. The score at the half, North Dakota State-29, South Dakota-19. 
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Both teams his under 40% of their field goal attempts in the first half, but the Bison forced the Coyotes to turn the ball over 14 times while NDSU had just 6 turnovers. PF James Hall led the scoring for the Bison with 10 points.
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Another whistle against the Bison. That’s 4 in the first 81 seconds of the 2nd half. Coach Bolton is all over the refs. But Mulholland will go to the line for the Pioneers. He drops in both shots.
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Another foul on the Bison. Webb hits both shots to cut the lead to 29-23 with 18:10 to go in the game. That’s 5 fouls in less than 2 minutes.
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James Hall picks up his 3rd foul. 6 team fouls with 17:22 to go. Bolton is yelling at the refs, but they don’t tag him with a technical.
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Another foul! 7 now with 16:24 to go so the Coyotes are already in the bonus. Mulholland returns the line. He makes the first but misses the second to make the score 29-24.
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That’s the 7th team foul against the Coyotes. Kelsey Brown goes to the line for a one-and-one. With 10:44 remaining, he converts both shots to give the Bison a 45-35 lead.
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Miller drives and pulls up. His shot is off the rim, but Hall grabs the rebound and stuffs it in to make it 47-35.
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The refs continue to wet their whistles. That puts Colin Shannon on the line. He makes both shots to make it 59-50 with 4:55 to go.
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With just over a minute to play, South Dakota is forced to foul. Colin Shannon toes the line. He sinks the first, and now the 2nd drops as well making it 68-59.
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The Coyotes cut the lead to 5 points. Can the Bison hold them off?
**********
South Dakota’s last minute effort comes up short and the Bison come away with a 72-67 victory on the road. 
**********
For North Dakota State, PF James Hall scored 14 and reserve SG Kelsey Brown added 10. PG Colin Shannon scored 8, but also had 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. The win keeps the Bison in 5th place in the Summit League with an 8-7 record and one game to play.
**********
PT: We have PG Colin Shannon with us. Colin, this was a big turn-around for team tonight. What was the difference from the previous two games?
CS: We were just tired of losing and embarrassed by our play lately. So I think the team pulled together to gain and maintain control of this game from the very beginning. James Hall was big for us early. Then when the refs teamed up against us early in the 2nd half, we never let it get us down. In fact, it made us dig deeper. We got scoring from throughout the lineup. Each time the Coyotes made a run, we were able to turn them back because no matter who was on the court for us, we all were intent on ensuring we won this game.
PT: What do you think of your chances in the Summit League tournament?
CS: We have to lock down our final game at home before thinking about the league tournament. But We know we can beat any team in the conference. There is no prohibitive favorite this year, so we just have to focus on each game we play and play together as a team like we did tonight.
PT: The team has made significant improvement this year. What do you attribute the difference to?
CS: Foremost, Coach Bolton has brought a new approach and attitude. Coach demands 100% effort. After our last two games, he lit a fire under us. My first 3 years here were kinda tough since we were the doormats each year. But it’s been fun playing and winning this year. I think that success breeds success so while I will be gone next year, I fully expect this team to make further advances next season. Even though we’re losing 3 starters, we’ve had good support off the bench and those guys are ready to step in next year. It was nice seeing Kelsey Brown, a freshman who is still getting used to Division I college ball, come in and play such a good game off the bench tonight. 
PT: Thank Colin and good luck the rest of the season.

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NDSU News, college newspaper

 

Bison Stampede Over Jaguars

 

The Bison ended their regular season by hosting the cellar-dwellling IUPUI Jaguars last night. Midway through the first half, NDSU took a double-digit lead. They combined a solid defense that limited the Jaguars shooting to 35% and forced 11 turnovers together with offensive aggressiveness that resulting in NDSU dropping in 50% of their shots. By the end of the first half, the Bison led 41-25. SF Brandon Tracy was high point man with 13 points, and he also pulled down 4 rebounds and blocked 2 shots.

In the second half, the Bison continued to roll and they opened up a 29-point lead just 6 minutes into the final half. From that point they coasted to an 82-52 beat down of the Jaguars. Brandon Tracy led their scoring with 19 points. PG David Miller came off the bench to score 11. 

The win catapulted the team into a 2nd place tie in the Summit League standings. They finished the regular season with a 15-12 record overall and a 9-7 league record.

After the game, it was announced that PG Colin Shannon suffered a mild concussion and will be held out of practice, but is expected to be ready for NDSU’s first league tournament game.

Summit League Final Standings:


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NDSU News, Kyle Partington, sports reporter

 

The Summit Tourney Gets Underway

 

The first day of the Summit League Tournament played out yesterday. 

 

#1 seed Western Illinois jumped out on top of 8th seed Nebraska-Omaha and never looked back. The Leathernecks held a 46-29 advantage at the half and opened as much as a 23 point lead before putting away the Mavericks by the final score of 84-64. Western Illinois hit 55% of their FG attempts and an amazing 79% of their 3’s while out-rebounding Nebraska-Omaha 33-21. Five Leathernecks players scored in double figures, led by SF Calvin Thomas’ 16 points. The Mavericks’ SF Albert Callahan led all scorers with 17 points.

 

Denver, the #2 seed, trailed the #7 seed South Dakota by 3 points at the half. But the Pioneers got their offense in gear in the 2nd half and built a 17-point lead before settling for a 73-60 victory. The Coyotes threw away their chance for an upset by making 27 turnovers. SG Derrick Williams scored 19 points for Denver while C Roland Mullahon dropped in 18 points for South Dakota.

 

The first half between the evenly matched #4 seed IFPW and #5 seed South Dakota State was a dog-fight throughout the entire 20 minutes of play, with IFPW coming away with a slim 31-30 halftime lead. But South Dakota State dominated the boards by the tune of 28-19 plus got to the foul line 9 more times in the game, scoring 10 more points on free throws. The allowed them to pull away in the 2nd half. The Coyotes beat the Mastadons 75-66. SG Darrell Toton led the Coyotes offensively with 19 points. For IFPW, C LyRyan Canty and SG Armand Marsh both scored 11 points.

 

North Dakota State, which finished league play in a 4 way tie for 2nd place, was the 3rd seed and was matched against the 6th seed, Oral Roberts. During the regular season, the Bison split two games with the Golden Eagles. Each team prevailed on their home court. 

 

The Bison came out on fire offensively and opened a 20-9 lead in the first 8 minutes of play. At that point PG Colin Shannon got into foul trouble and was replaced by David Miller who popped in 14 points in his first 9 minutes on the floor. NDSU finished the half up 44-29, hitting 62% of their shots while dishing out 16 assists.

 

While their offensive productivity dropped off in the 2nd half, the Bison held onto a double digit lead throughout the half. Coach Bolton substituted liberally as NDSU pulled away for a 74-57 beat down of the Golden Eagles.

 

Reserve David Miller led the Bison attack with 19 points. SF Brandon Tracy scored 14 and PG Colin Shannon added 13. SG Kevin Brinker scored just 4 points but had 6 steals and 2 blocks to go along with 4 rebounds. Oral Roberts was led by SG Roland Hayes with 20 points.

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KFGO Radio Sports: Tyler Baines Bison Sports Talk

 

Earlier tonight the semi-finals of the Summit League matched Western Illinois against South Dakota State and North Dakota State against Denver.

 

Western Illinois demonstrated why they were the class of the league this year by steadily pulling away from and downing the Jackrabbits 68-55. SF Calvin Thomas scored 15 for the Leathernecks while the games top scorer was reserve guard Chris Kerlin for South Dakota State. Kerlin finished the game with 16 points. 

 

The Denver Pioneers and our local Bison team split their 2 regular season games with both teams winning on their home courts. SG Derrick Williams came into the game averaging 17.4 ppg for Denver. Surprisingly though, Williams didn’t start for the Pioneers. While Denver’s coaching staff was mum about this surprising action, there was a rumor Williams was benched for his post game comments after the Pioneers 1st round victory in which he made derogatory remarks about South Dakota’s guard play.

 

The refs saddled the Bison with 6 team fouls in the first 4 minutes of play, sending SF Brandon Tracy to the bench with 2 fouls. The Bison were called for their 7th foul a minute later, sending the Pioneers to the line for one-and-ones early. While NDSU held a small lead throughout most of the first half, the fouls proliferated allowing the Pioneers to move ahead late in the half and take a 38-32 halftime advantage. Reserve SG Kelsey Brown was the top scorer for the Bison with 7 points while SG Dionsio Houston dropped in 11 points for Denver.

 

Early in the 2nd half, the Bison fell behind by 13 points. The Bison gamely hung in and gradually whittled away at the lead. With 3 minutes to play they trailed by just 3 points. Neither team could score after that, but with 23 seconds remaining, NDSU called their final time out. A 3-point play was set up but David Miller’s shot was far off the mark. The Bison pulled down the rebound and worked the ball around before Evan Williams drove to the basket trying to score and get fouled on the play. Neither goal was successful, but Brandon Tracy muscled down the rebound and fired it outside to David Miller who put up a desperate 3-point shot with 2 seconds on the clock. The balls went off the backboard and into the net to tie the game at 62-62 and send the teams into overtime.

 

Denver scored 7 points in the first 2 minutes of overtime while the Bison were held scoreless. NDSU scored their first points of the OT with just over a minute to play but then trailed 70-64. Another bucket by the Bison was too little, too late and they fell by the score of 71-66, ending their season.

 

The difference in the game ultimately was fouls and free throws. Reserve PF Evan Williams led the Bison scoring with 10 points. Bison starters combined for just 25 points. SG Dionsio Houston led all scorers with 18 points. The Pioneers C Joel Blake hauled down 11 rebounds.

 

Now let’s hear from callers. First we have Norvil on the line. What you have for us, Norvil?

 

Norvil: The league oughta fire those refs. I think they were being paid by Denver.

 

Tyler: Next we have a frequent caller, Buzz:

 

Buzz: Yeah, I agree that we got robbed tonight, but overall I think we have to look at this season as a big turn-around for NDSU basketball. The team finished with 16 wins which is more than double what the Bison were recording in each of the years before Coach Bolton came to us.

 

Tyler: Thanks, Buzz. Here’s Al from his ranch:

 

Al: Damn, I really thought the Bison could pull off 3 wins in the tournament and make it to the Big Dance. Guess we have to wait until next year now.

 

Tyler: Yes, I’m pretty sure they won’t get into any of the post-season tournaments even though they have a 16-13 season record. Finally, here’s Sue:

 

Sue: I attended all of our home games this season. Our starters did pretty well, but I was particularly impressed with 2 reserves. Evan Williams and David Miller came in and put points on the board nearly every game. I expect they will get more playing time next season and together with Brandon Tracy, James Hall and maybe Kelsey Brown, could give us a solid starting lineup in the coming season.

 

Tyler: I agree that this year was a huge improvement for the Bison and has laid the foundation for more success next season. Hopefully, Coach Bolton can bring in at least one recruit who will be able to step right in and help lift the team to the next level.

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Benbo Jamanian, KNDU Radio

 

Tonight, the Western Illinois Leathernecks earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Summit League Championship by the score of 73-70 over the Denver Pioneers. PG Dante Porter scored 33 points to carry the Leathernecks to their win. SG Derrick Williams scored 24 in Denver’s losing effort.

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Fargo Forum newspaper excerpts

 

• Western Illinois #13 seed playing #4 seed Illinois at the Chicago regional of the NCAA Tournament.

 

• Western Illinois held a 9 point lead in the first half and finished the half ahead by a score of 38-33. But Illinois clamped down defensively in the 2nd half to pull away for an easy 76-54 victory, thus ending the Summit League’s post-season play. SF Calvin Thomas scored 13 for Western Illinois. 

 

• Post-Season Tournament Champions:

 

NCAA Championship: North Carolina-77, Georgia Tech-73

 

NIT Championship: Mississippi State-71, Georgetown-69

 

CIT Championship: Maryland-93, Virginia-89

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Fargo Forum newspaper

 

Bison Basketball Recruiting Concludes

 

Yesterday, North Dakota State announced the filling of their final scholarship for the Bison basketball team next season. Ed Doss, a JC player out of New Jersey will join Jared Bedard and Brian Degala as next year’s newest players. A summary for each of the three players follows:

 

PF Ed Doss, JC So, North Brunswick, NJ, 2.2 GPA; 17.0 ppg, 3.4 apg, 7.3 rpg, 1.6 spg, 1.8 bpg; Prolific scorer with an excellent inside shot and very good outside shot, Very strong defender, Not a leader but doesn’t cause problems either; Ranked #192 nationally, Overall rating: B.

 

PG Jared Bedard, HS Sr, Fargo, ND, 2.8 GPA, 1050 SAT; 14.3 ppg, 4.7 apg, 5.1 rpg, 3.7 spg, 1.9 bpg; Very good scorer with a sweet outside shot, Excellent passer and very good ball handling skills, Gets lots of steals, talented player who could work harder, Top 25 at Houston Classic; Ranked #810 nationally, Overall rating: C.

 

SG Brian Degala, HS Sr, Cooperstown, ND, 2.9 GPA, 1040 SAT; 11.8 ppg, 3.8 apg, 4.0 rpg, 3.1 spg, 2.2 bpg; Excellent outside shooter, Very good passer, Gets lots of steals, Very good athleticism, Not a leader but doesn’t cause problems either, Talented player who would work harder; Ranked #1247 nationally, Overall Rating: C.

 

Coach Tad Bolton said, “We were really pleased to pick up a couple strong guards last fall, particularly since Colin Shannon and Kevin Brinker are graduating. Getting an experienced interior player this week was a real bonus and should provide us with more depth inside this coming season.

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“Unofficial NorDakStater”—a blog by Ron Slocum

 

Basketball season has been over for more than a month, but there has been some news coming from the Athletic Department this week.

 

• After firing the second assistant coach, Mike Mitchell has been hired for that position. Its reported he has some strong recruiting skills. Mitchell was a 3rd assistant at Middle Tennessee last season, so will need to quickly come up to speed on high school teams in the upper Midwest.

• The Athletic Department seems to be pleased with Coach Bolton’s first season as head coach. He has been given a new 4-year contract with a raise to $84,000/year.

• Apparently Coach Bolton requested the board make improvements to facilities. I’ve learned that they approved the request (and facilities will improve from a D rating to C).

• School prestige for the basketball program is now 6 and Summit League basketball prestige is now 14.

• Unofficially it’s been indicated that the basketball program purchased the basic scouting report for the Great Plains Region and that they will attend the Houston Classic camp this summer.

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Press Release from the North Dakota State Athletic Department

 

Fargo, October 1—North Dakota State’s men’s basketball team’s pre-conference schedule has been finalized for this season. Six of the eleven games will be at home in the Bison Sports Arena and include teams from across the breadth of the country. Last season the Bison finished tied for 2nd place in the Summit League. Come root for the Bison as they challenge for the league championship this year. Season tickets are still available by contacting the Athletic Department or going online through North Dakota State’s website. Season tickets include home games against all of the other 8 teams in the Summit League.

Pre-Conference Schedule:

@ Northeastern
TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO
ST. PETER’S
@ Northern Iowa
@ Liberty
@ Lafayette
TEXAS SOUTHERN
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
COLORADO ST.
ST. MARY’S
@Bryant

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