Men’s Basketball: NDSU Builds Huge Lead, Holds on Late Over Fort Wayne

Bison advance to play SDSU in the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (NDSU Athletics) – The fifth-seeded North Dakota State men’s basketball team defeated No. 4 seed Fort Wayne 86-82 in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament on Sunday evening at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

NDSU advances to take on top-seeded South Dakota State on Monday night at 6 p.m.

Senior Paul Miller poured in 29 points to lead NDSU. The Bison also received 14 points from sophomore Deng Geu, 13 points from sophomore Tyson Ward, and 12 points from senior A.J. Jacobson.

Miller also led NDSU on the glass with eight rebounds. Ward registered five boards and five assists.

John Konchar and Bryson Scott both scored 29 points for Fort Wayne.

NDSU made 11-of-21 shots (52 percent) from three-point range in the game and shot 52 percent overall.

The Bison raced out to an early 10-0 lead and led wire-to-wire for the victory. NDSU held a 49-31 advantage at halftime and pushed the margin to 23 at 60-37 following a thunderous dunk by Geu with 14:38 remaining.

The Mastodons slowly chipped away at their deficit. A three-pointer by Scott made it 69-63 with 7:25 to go. Konchar drove for a layup with 2:04 remaining that cut NDSU’s lead to 80-78. Clinging to an 81-80 lead with one minute left, the Bison got steals on back-to-back possessions from Miller and Ward and made five free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the win.