Bison Are Dancing: Men’s Basketball Wins First Summit League Title Since 2020

NDSU came rolling into the Summit League Tournament after successfully finishing the regular season with a win against UND. The Bison finished the regular season with a 27-7 record, including an impressive 14-2 record in Summit League Play. Their first test of the tournament was a gritty Oral Roberts team.

​Oral Roberts came into the tournament with a play-in date with Kansas City. The Golden Eagles would beat up on the coachless Roos by 24, 94-70, to set up the matchup with the Herd. Since NDSU was a top two seed, they would play on Thursday and get a day break instead of playing back-to-back-to-back days.

​The quarterfinals for NDSU served as a warm-up for the semifinals and championship. The first half decided this game. NDSU would jump to a 10-point lead at half, 36-26. Damari Wheeler-Thomas and Trevian Carson dominated every aspect of the game. They combined for 35 points, six three-pointers and four steals.

​NDSU won the game, 76-65, by defending the paint and not letting Oral Roberts win the game inside. The Golden Eagles made 20 field goals, and 13 of them were threes. With NDSU limiting the paint, they were able to run away with the lead.

​The Semi-final was against a gritty Omaha team on Saturday. Once again, the Bison dominated on defense and limited the Mavericks’ attack. In the first four minutes, NDSU went on an 11-0 run to start the game. They continued to the half, where they crushed Omaha, 40-25, thanks to dominating the paint and shooting the three effectively.

​To start the second half, NDSU went up 21, 56-35, with 10 minutes left in the contest, and did not look back. The thundering herd won, 74-50, paced by Treyson Anderson and Wheeler-Thomas, who scored 16 and 15 points, respectively.

​The defense is what held Omaha in check. NDSU held them to 15/50 shooting and 4/26 from the three-point line. An absurd 30% from the field and 15.4% from three. NDSU made the Mavericks run off the three-point line, which resulted in tough, contested shots in the field. Also, being a plus in the rebounding was crucial in this game.

​After the win against Omaha, all that coach Richman could do was wait for the result of the UND and St. Thomas semifinal. For NDSU, it was worth the wait. UND pulled off an all-time upset in the Summit League tournament and beat St. Thomas after UND’s George Natsvlishvili hit one free throw with under one second to beat the Tommies at midnight.

​The Summit League Championship day felt odd due to the Daylight Saving Time change. Coming into the game, NDSU swept UND in the regular season by an average of 25 points. But, UND has rising superstar Greyson Uelmen, who came into the championship averaging 34.5 points per game in the tournament.

​As the game tipped off, Andy Stefonowicz and Tay Smith had an early shooting contest with five early three-pointers from both of them. The game went back and forth throughout the first half, with three different lead changes and both teams tying the game four times. But, the most impactful production came from the bench, outsourcing UND 15-5 in that category.

​With under two and a half minutes remaining in the first half, NDSU went on an 8-0 run by Wheeler-Thomas hitting a trey, Markhi Strickland throwing down a slam, and Tay Smith hitting nothing but net on a three-pointer to go into the half up 38-30.

​Going into the second half, UND would not go away. NDSU tried to put them away by going up double digits, but UND would claw their way back to try and shrink the lead. At the seven-minute mark, NDSU would hold a 12-point lead, 56-44, after a Carson layup from an assist from Strickland.

​With under two minutes to play, UND cut NDSU’s lead down to four after an Uelmen free throw. As UND inched closer, NDSU would go into a ball screen where the six-man of the year in the Summit League would slip out for an open three and bury it to close the door on UND, putting them to bed.

​NDSU won its sixth Summit League tournament championship, and Coach Richman won his fourth Summit League championship.

​The Bison will now head to Buffalo, NY, to face legendary coach Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at 3:05 p.m. on TNT.

​