SDSU DROPS OVERTIME THRILLER TO NDSU

Thursday, February 1

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

12-11,5-3Summit League

North Dakota State

10-12,3-4Summit League

OT 1

North Dakota St.

South Dakota St.

Zeke Mayo

Photo by: Miranda Sampson

2/1/2024 11:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

BROOKINGS, S.D. – A tip-in putback with just one second remaining made the difference in a contest that was sent to overtime on heroics late in regulation as South Dakota State wound up falling to North Dakota State, 74-73, in Frost Arena on Thursday.

The game went to overtime, SDSU's first of the season, thanks to a Zeke Mayo 3-pointer. Two Damari Wheeler-Thomas free throws gave NDSU a 65-62 edge with 10 seconds left in regulation. Following a Bison timeout, SDSU inbounded the ball to Mayo who worked his way up the right side of the court. The junior guard pulled up from the wing from behind the 3-point line and connected, tying the score with 5.4 seconds remaining. NDSU's ensuing opportunity by Boden Skunberg didn't fall sending the game to overtime, the Bison's sixth extra period of the year.

SDSU began overtime behind a dunk by William Kyle III, but the two sides again went back-and-forth down the stretch. A pair of Mayo free throws gave the Jackrabbits a 73-72 lead with 1:03 to play. NDSU committed a turnover on its next possession, but a Mayo 3-pointer when SDSU got the ball back from the top of the 3-pointer didn't fall.

The Bison had a final attempt to win the game. Skunberg took a jumper from the top of the key with four seconds left. His shot bounced high off the rim allowing teammate Noah Feddersen to tip the ball through the rim and push NDSU ahead 74-73 with 1.3 seconds on the clock.

The Jackrabbits got the ball up the court, and following a timeout on a full-court pass, had exactly a second remaining for an inbounds play. SDSU's Luke Appel received the ball with a look from 3-point range, but his shot was missed and North Dakota State came away with its first victory in Brookings since 2016.

SDSU's largest lead of the night came in the first 10 minutes of the contest. After trailing in the opening moments, SDSU used a 14-0 scoring run to go up 16-6 at the 13:21 mark of the first half. A response by the way of a 24-4 run propelled NDSU ahead 30-20 with 4:37 left in the half, serving as the Bison's largest advantage of the contest.

The Bison went into halftime up 33-30. SDSU scored the first nine points of the second half, but NDSU quickly scored five points to make it a 39-38 deficit. Neither team ever led by more than five the rest of the night.

Notes

South Dakota State fell to 12-11 overall and 5-3 in Summit League play. North Dakota State improved to 10-12 and 3-4 in conference action.
The Jackrabbits are now tied atop The Summit League standings with North Dakota. Despite being in eighth place, the Bison are just a half game back of fourth place in the league.
Mayo led all scorers in the contest with a season-high 35 points. He went 13 of 14 at the free throw line, both marks serving as career highs. Mayo also had two steals to tie for a team high with Matt Mims and Charlie Easley.
Appel recorded his first double-double of the season by recording 10 points and 11 rebounds. Also scoring in double digits was Kyle III who had 12 points and six rebounds to go along with a career-high four blocks.
NDSU outshot SDSU 42.4%-37.9% from the field. Both teams made seven 3-pointers, but the Bison did so in 18 attempts to the Jackrabbits' 27.
The Bison were led in scoring by Skunberg's 14 points. He was followed by Andrew Morgan who had 12 and Jacari White who finished with 10. Skunberg also had 11 rebounds for a double-double.

Up Next
The Jackrabbits return to Frost Arena at 4 p.m. Sunday. SDSU will host South Dakota as part of the Interstate Series presented by First Interstate Bank. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

-GoJacks.com-