The Bison Men’s Basketball team were back in action on Thursday in Fargo to host the Illinois State Redbirds. The last time these two met in 2023, the Bison saw a late 18-2 run go against them which resulted in a Redbird victory.
Senior Jacari White was the story for the Bison as he is showing why he was picked to the Summit League All League Preseason Team, hitting four three pointers on his way to a new career-high of 27 points, leading the Bison.
Johnny Kinziger led the Redbirds in scoring as he shot 6-11 from the field, scoring 20. Ty Pence also managed an efficient workload with 17 points.
The Bison held a lead up until the half-way point of the first half, when a Johnny Kinziger made 3 gave Illinois State a 17-14 lead, that they would hold the rest of the half.
A Noah Feddersen lay-up make left the score at 42-31, sending both teams to the locker rooms. During the second half, the Bison were primarily working from behind, but a Jacari White and-one, three-point bucket turned into a four-point play brought the Bison to within three early on.
Just about midway through the second half, Jacari White brought the Bison all the way back with another three-point bucket, giving them a 56-55 lead.
After NDSU took the lead however, a Redbird timeout would re-give Illinois State the lead. NDSU would go on to regain another small four-point lead but faltered in crunch time giving way to a 77-68 final score.
NDSU as a team was outshot 47 percent to 41 percent. Illinois State outshot the Bison in free throws with 14,
making 13 of them, as opposed to NDSU’s six attempts to three makes. NDSU was also outrebounded 40-31.
NDSU moves to 1-1 on the young season, the Bison start a 3-game road trip on Monday, going to Bakersfield, California, to square off against the Roadrunners. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
*This article was written by Flag Family Media intern Cayden Lloyd*
