Cardiac Jacks Win Summit League Championships

Tuesday, March 8

Sioux Falls, S.D.

8:00 PM

South Dakota State University

26-7

No. 5 Seed North Dakota State

20-13

North Dakota State

South Dakota State

3/9/2016 1:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota State battled through seven ties and 10 lead changes, and then held off a late North Dakota State charge to secure its third NCAA Tournament bid in five years with a 67-59 win over the Bison on Tuesday in front of a tournament-record crowd of 10,188 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

The Jackrabbits secure their third Summit League title in the last five seasons, and improve to 26-7 in the process. The winner of the last two tournaments and three overall, NDSU falls to 20-13.

"Our kids, literally, this is as hard as I've seen them play all year in terms of being in tune with each other; a team defensive effort, a team rebounding effort," head coach Scott Nagy said. "I'm super happy for the seniors, particularly Deondre (Parks), George (Marshall) and Keaton (Moffitt), because last year we weren't able to go, but they're going to get the NCAA experience this year."

Defense dominated early with only a total of 22 points scored midway through the first half, when a Deondre Parks 3-pointer sparked a 7-0 Jackrabbits run, with five of the points coming from Parks that turned a 12-10 deficit into 17-12 lead, only to see the Bison fire back to take a 21-20 lead five minutes later, the sixth of eight lead changes in the first half.

SDSU got the lead back on the eighth lead change on a Mike Daum jumper and led by 30-26 late, until Carlin Dupree hit a 3-pointer with just before half to cut the Jacks lead to 30-29 at halftime.

The Jackrabbit lead held until the 14:13 mark of the second half, when a pair of Paul Miller free throws put the Bison up 40-39, but that lead only lasted nine seconds, as Keaton Moffitt scored the next trip down the floor for the last of the lead changes.

The lead would grow to as many as 11 points at 59-48 with just over four minutes to play before the Bison mounted one final charge. They would get the lead down to five twice, the last being 63-58, but that happened with 27 seconds left, and George Marshall went 4 for 4 from the foul line down the stretch to secure the win.

Tournament MVP Daum led four Jackrabbits in double figures with 18 points adding a game-high nine rebounds. All-tournament team selection Parks added14 points, Sioux Falls native Moffitt 11 more and Marshall 10 points and three assists.

NDSU's Carlin Dupree, also an all-tournament team selection, scored a game-high 19 points, with Khy Kabellis adding 17 points in the loss.

The Jacks now look forward to Selection Sunday, when they find out their NCAA Tournament opponent. Stay with GoJacks.com for further updates.

NOTES: NDSU leads the all-time series with SDSU 115-101, with SDSU holding a 2-1 edge in Summit League Tournament play, all in the finals ... the teams played in front of 10,188 fans at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, the largest crowd in tournament history ... SDSU moves to 13-5 in Summit League tournament play, with a 2-1 mark in the tournament finals ... the win sends SDSU to the NCAA Tournament for the 25th time in school history, the third time at the Division I level ... SDSU is 6-0 this season in neutral site games, 23-3 when gathering more rebounds than its opponent, 21-3 when leading at halftime and 19-0 when shooting more or the same number of free throws than its opponent ... Daum scored in double figures for the 20th straight game, and extended his SDSU freshman scoring record to 502 points