North Dakota State downs South Dakota State men in Summit League hoops semifinal

South Dakota State’s hopes for a Summit League Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA March Madness Tournament ended Monday night at the hands of the North Dakota State Bison in a 89-79 defeat.

It was a game where the Jackrabbits fell behind early.

While the second-seeded Jackrabbits were able to fight back and find themselves in the lead, the Bison were able to regroup late in the first half and rode that momentum into and throughout the second half en route to the victory.

“Well, we ran into a buzzsaw tonight,” SDSU Head Coach Eric Henderson said in a postgame interview. “... We were just kind of fighting it the whole night. Could never really quite get it going, but to our guys' credit, they had a ton of fight.”

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With the win, the Bison will now take on Oral Roberts at 8 p.m. Tuesday, to decide who will represent the conference in the national tournament as part of an automatic bid.

Here’s how the Jackrabbits’ postseason aspirations ended inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center on Monday night.

Bison get out to fast start, Jackrabbits answer back

Throughout the first 3 minutes, the two teams looked evenly matched both with six points. Then, North Dakota State started to run away with the game.

With offensive production from Boden Skunberg, Grant Nelson and Andrew Morgan, the Bison went on a 17-0 run, distancing themselves from the Jackrabbits. But, the Jackrabbits answered in a big way.

During the next 7 minutes, the Jackrabbits would go on a run of their own to regain the lead at 29-27.

“We knew that if we could keep chipping away that our fans would get into it and we would eat off that. So we just kept telling ourselves, you know, just every possession, ‘Just fight, just fight, just fight.’ That just kind of gave us momentum,” Jackrabbit junior guard Matt Mims said.

Despite getting that momentum and taking the lead with less than 4 minutes to play in the first quarter, the Bison fired right back at the Jackrabbits and took a six-point lead into the locker room.

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"In the first half, when they went on that run, the crowd got into it and it was tough for us to fight back against that, but we did it," Grant Nelson, a junior forward for NDSU said. "And I mean, we just had to stay into them defensively and get stops, and that translated over to our offense."

Despite shooting 1-for-10 from long-range in the first half, the Bison shot it at a 48.3% clip from the field. While the Jackrabbits, who overcame those early struggles, finished shooting at a 38.7% clip from the field in the first half.

Bison come out strong in second half, distance themselves from Jackrabbits

Coming out of the locker rooms, the Jackrabbits were able to cut the Bison lead to three very early on.

But NDSU got their offense rolling through Damari Wheeler-Thomas and Skunberg again, growing their lead to as much as 13 just six minutes into the second half. It would only grow from there.

The Bison continued their offensive success, pushing their lead to as big as 21. In the second half, NDSU got hot from the floor. The Bison, led by Skunberg, shot 64.3% from the floor and 70% from long range in the second half.

The Jackrabbits were unable to substanitally cut into that lead throughout much of the second half.

Down the stretch, the Jackrabbits cut into the Bison lead, trailing only by six points with 34 seconds left in regulation. By then, it was too late.

The Jackrabbits fouled and sent Tajavis Miller to the free throw line where he connected on both, effectively ending the game.

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In the second half, the Jackrabbits shot at a 50% clip from the field and connected on eight-of-14 attempts from long range.

“It’s never how you want it to end, but sometimes, you just have to tip your cap,” Henderson said.

Grant Nelson shines with double-double, rebounding effort

Junior forward Grant Nelson had another stellar performance for the Bison on Monday night, pouring in 20 points. And, his work on the glass impressed as well.

Nelson grabbed 22 rebounds, three of them offensive. As a team, the Jackrabbits had 24 rebounds. After the game, Nelson credited his teammates’ defensive work.

“I was just in the right place at the right time on the other end of it,” Nelson said.

Junior guard Boden Skunberg led all scorers in the game with 24 points. Damari Wheeler-Thomas had 17, while Andrew Morgan had 14.

Four of the five Bison starters had double-digits.

Like North Dakota State, the Jackrabbits also had four of their starters reach double-digits. Senior guard Alex Arians had a team-high 20 points and six rebounds, while Mims had 19 and Zeke Mayo had 18. Matt Dentlinger added 11 points.

SDSU has three seniors on its roster, Arians, Dentlinger and Luke Appel.

"I know this, our team is going to get better in the offseason, and we'll be ready and we'll come back fine," Henderson said. "Because, we're going to control what we can control too."

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: SDSU men's basketball season ends with loss to NDSU in Summit League semifinals