After NDSU had as much as a nine-point lead, St. Thomas came back by outscoring the Bison by 19, leading the Tommies to victory at Schoenecker Arena.
Noah Fedderson scored a career-high 20 points (7-of-8) and a career-high four assists to lead the Bison. Boden Skunberg added 19 points and seven rebounds.
St. Thomas started the first half strong with six players scoring within the first six minutes of play. Although St. Thomas was up, the Bison were able to keep up and stay close behind the Tommies. After trailing for most of the first half, the Bison ended up dominating within the last 5 minutes. This was from the help of Fedderson banking back-to-back three-pointers in the last two minutes, giving the Bison as much as a nine-point lead. At this point, Fedderson was already tied with his career-high of 18 points. St. Thomas was scoreless for two minutes during the Bison comeback. The first half ended with NDSU on top with a score of 42-36. NDSU shot 71 percent in the first twenty minutes (15-for-21) and St. Thomas shot 55 percent.
St. Thomas responded accordingly at the start of the second half by putting together a 12-2 run over five minutes, giving them a 53-48 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. Once the Bison got within one at 53-52, St. Thomas responded once again with a 13-4 run. NDSU would not have the lead again after the 12:16 mark. The Tommies outscored the Bison in the second half by 19 points, with NDSU scoring 24 and St. Thomas scoring 43. At about 9 minutes left of regulation, Boden Skunberg made a three, which made him reach 1,000 career points. Skunberg is now the 40th player in NDSU history to reach this mark. The team finished shooting 48 percent from the field and 50 percent from the three. NDSU is 9-12 overall and 2-4 in The Summit League, struggling to maintain a winning streak mid-season. St. Thomas improved to 14-7 overall and 4-2 in The Summit League. St. Thomas’s Parker Bjorklund led the Tommies with 32 points and nine rebounds. This was the Tommies 21st win at home in their last 24 games.
The Bison are 2nd in The Summit League in points per game, averaging 78. NDSU is also 2nd in FG percentage (47.8 percent) and 3FG percentage (37.9 percent). They now have a week off before heading back on the road traveling to Brookings on Thursday, February 1st to face South Dakota State.