North Dakota State basketball has high expectations going into the 2024-25 season. NDSU survived a tough exhibition contest against MSUM, and now it was time to play for real in their home opener against the Jamestown Jimmies. Heading into the contest, the Bison would be without two starters. Point guard Damari Wheeler-Thomas is nursing an injury and will miss some time. They were also without starting forward Jacksen Moni, who was also out with an injury. 

The Jimmies came out strong. They kept pace with the Bison for most of the first half, and they were tied with the Bison at 27 a piece at the under-eight timeout. NDSU would then start to lay the wood to Jamestown. Jacari White showed why he was voted to the preseason all-Summit League team by going on a personal 8-0 run. A dunk and two threes put NDSU up ten, and Tajavis Miler also chipped two points on a layup. 

NDSU was able to hold onto a ten point lead going into the locker room 42-32. The Bison shot 59% in the first half and 46% from deep, but Jamestown was able to hang around as their 44% shooting from the field and 50% from behind the arc kept the Jimmies within an arm’s reach.

The second half was all Bison as they outscored Jamestown 54-27 to win their season opener 96-59. Jacari White was the star of the night as he scored 22 points on 8 of 11 shooting and five of seven from downtown. Dave Richman’s squad had five players in double figures as Tajavis Miller scored 12, Noah Feddersen and Masen Miller each chipped in 11 points, and freshman forward Tresyon Anderson scored 10 points. 

The Bison were sharp on offense, shooting 56% from the field and 46% from the three-point line. The herd was also able to show off their depth as 40 bench points guided NDSU to a dominant home showing. The brightest bench player was freshman point guard Andy Stefonowicz; he scored five points and stole the ball twice, but he also dished out six assists. He is the future at the point guard position if Damari Wheeler-Thomas is injured and can’t go for a period of time, and he provides depth behind VMI transfer Brennan Watkins going forward.

The Bison will be back at the SHAC Thursday night as they welcome back Boden Skunberg and the Illinois State Redbirds. Tip-off between the Bison and the Redbirds will be at 7:30 pm.