Weber State
For most of the month of November, this Bison Men’s Basketball team has struggled. Over Thanksgiving weekend, that all changed. The Bison West Georgia and Utah Valley advanced to 2-1 in the “Samford Invitational Tournament.” Wednesday, Dec. 4th, the Bison would host Weber State in one of their Summit League-Big Sky challenge games. Through the first 6 minutes of this game, the Bison led 21-4 thanks to a pair of threes from Brennan Watkins. Weber State went on a 30-21 run to end the half to make it 42-34 at the half in the SHAC.
In the 2nd half, the lead would get all the way down to a three-point lead with under three minutes remaining in the 1st half. Jacari White and Jackson Moni would both hit two free throws in a row to make it a 73-66 lead with 1:41 remaining. It was a 74-70 game with seven ticks left on the clock, and Jacari White was at the free-throw line. He made both, but Weber State rushed down the court and splashed a three to make it a 76-73 game with three seconds left. The Bison would inbound the ball to Jacari White, and he would be fouled and make a free throw to seal it. Jackson Moni led the way with 22 points and Jacari White’s 20 points. The Bison won 77-73 to extend their winning streak to three games.
Northern Colorado
The Bison knew they had a good opponent coming to the SHAC after Northern Colorado defeated the Jackrabbits earlier this season. It would be the third of three North Dakota State athletic events to go down Saturday as the Bison football team won 51-31 in their game, the women’s basketball rolled Eastern Washington, and now it was the Men’s turn to make it a sweep for the Bison. The Herd got off to about as good of a start as you could ask for, as they led 19-6 through seven minutes of play.
It would be a back-and-forth game until 3:08 left in the 1st half when the Bison led 35-25. Northern Colorado went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 37-34 NDSU on top at the half. Another hot start to a half in the second half of this one as the Bison started off on a 13-2 run thanks to a pair of jump shots and a 3 from Brennan Watkins. Northern Colorado fought back for most of the game as they were on a 34-22 run, but it wasn’t enough. The hot starts in each half were the key to this 82-70 win over Northern Colorado to advance to 7-4 on the season and continue their four-game win streak.
Looking Ahead
The Bison will have three home non-conference games upcoming on Friday the 13th: they will host Wisconsin-Stout; on Dec. 15th, they will host Western Michigan; and on Dec. 25th, they will host CSU Bakersfield, who they fell to earlier this season. Following that, conference play will begin as they will host St Thomas on Jan. 2nd. If you’re heading home for Christmas break, think about coming out to a couple of Bison basketball games before you head out for the holidays.