The final game of the regular season for the North Dakota State men’s basketball team would be against the Coyotes of South Dakota. Heading into this game, the Bison were sitting at 9-6 and in fourth place in the conference. The Coyotes were 8-6 and in fifth place in conference. Both of these teams heading into this game couldn’t go any lower than the number five seed, so this game wasn’t extremely meaningful in the grand scheme of things, but it was Senior Day where the Bison honored Luke Kasubke, Jeremiah Burke, Jacksen Moni, Jacari White, and Masen Miller.
An interesting fact about this senior class is that all five of them transferred from a different school. The starting five consisted of four seniors and probably would’ve been all seniors if not for Jacksen Moni, who sat out due to injury, and Brennan Watkins. Senior Masen Miller started the Bison off with a three-pointer to add to his great season. USD would own the next seven minutes, going on an 18-8 run to go up 18-11.
The rest of the first half was very back-and-forth, and it was all tied up at 37 with just over two minutes left when Darik Dissette and Anthony Stefonowicz gave the Bison four points before the half to take a 41-37 lead heading into the locker room. There was a great vibe around the SHAC heading into halftime with a crowd of just over 1,700 people for this regular season finale. The first eight minutes of the second half would pass, and the Bison and the Coyotes would both put up 14 points to make it 55-51. The Bison then went on a 9-0 run in the next 70 seconds to put them up by nine.
USD responded right back with a 10-0 run to go up by one with just over eight minutes remaining. Eventually, we would hit the four-minute mark, and USD led 69-68. Darik Dissette got to the free-throw line and nailed both free throws to go up by one. USD then responded with five straight points, making it 74-70 USD. Darik Dissette continued his career game with a layup to cut the lead to two.
Jacari White then got to the free-throw line and made both shots to make the game all square at 74. The crowd rose to their feet, making their presence known, and the Bison got a stop on defense, followed by an and-one from Jacari White where he made the free throw to give the Bison a three-point lead with 1:39 to go in the game. Noah Feddersen committed a foul, and USD was in the double bonus. Chase Forte for USD drained both, making it a one-point game, 77-76 with 52 seconds left. Tajavis Miller made a jump shot, and the Bison defense got a stop after a huge Darik Dissette rebound, which led to Jacari White making two free throws. USD got Chase Forte to the free-throw line again, and he cut the Bison lead to three points. Jacari White got himself to the free-throw line once again, and he made the first shot, which would be enough. The Bison snuck out with a win after an all-time performance by Minot’s own Darik Dissette. 82-78 was the final to wrap up the regular season, and the Bison finished the regular season 21-10 overall with a 10-6 league record.
It was an odd game for this version of the Bison since they usually are strong from the three-point line, but they were just 20% in this game. Darik Dissette was the X-factor in this game, though, as he had eight offensive rebounds and 13 total rebounds. He also recorded 16 points, along with Jacari White’s 20 and Tajavis Miller’s 19. It was a much-needed momentum win for the Bison, as they will head to Sioux Falls next week to take on USD yet again in the first round of the Summit League tournament on Friday at 6 p.m.