Feb. 23, 2002
Grand Forks, ND – The University of North Dakota men's basketball team outscored #9 South Dakota State 54-28 in the opening half and went on to a 96-78 victory in the final North Central Conference game for both teams on Saturday night. North Dakota improved to 17-9 overall, 12-6 in NCC play, while South Dakota State, the NCC's and North Central Region's top team, fell to 21-5, 15-3 in league play.
With the victory, North Dakota earned the #3 seed in this week's North Central Conference Wells Fargo Finals. The Sioux will host #6 seed Northern Colorado in Grand Forks on Tuesday at 7 p.m. In other games #7 Augustana will travel to #2 Nebraska-Omaha, while #5 South Dakota will travel to #4 St. Cloud State. The three winners will travel to South Dakota State for semifinal games on Friday and the conference championship game on Saturday.
On Saturday night it was all Sioux from the start in a game played in front of 5,319 fans. With the score tied at six with 14:58 to remaining in the opening half, North Dakota went on an improbable 35-6 run to take a 41-12 lead with 6:18 remaining. Junior Robert Lolar keyed the run, scoring 16 of North Dakota's 18 points during one stretch of the run, hitting four 3-pointers and two baskets. Sophomore Jeff Brandt added 11 during the run, connecting on three 3-point shots and finishing a dunk.
UND's largest lead of the first half was 31 points, 47-16, at the 3:07 mark after senior Nigel Jenkins connected on two free throws. SDSU closed the final minutes of the first half on a 12-7 run to cut the halftime lead to 54-28.
Lolar hit 8 of 13 shots in the first half, 5 of 6 from beyond the 3-point line, to finish with 21 points. His career high entering the game was 16. Brandt had 13 first-half points, hitting 5 of 8 shots and 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. Jenkins added six as North Dakota shot 51.4 percent.
South Dakota State shot 36.7 percent, but had 13 first-half turnovers.
The Jacks still trailed by 23, 82-59, with 6:57 to play, before going on an 11-2 run that got them within 14, 84-70, with 4:24 remaining. It was as close as they'd been since the 11:03 mark of the first half. But the Sioux scored the next four points over the next minute to stop any SDSU comeback.
North Dakota improved on its first-half shooting to shoot 51.6 percent in the second half and 51.5 percent for the game. South Dakota State shot 48.6 percent in the second half and had just six second-half turnovers.
Lolar ended up with a game-high and career-high 25 points. Brandt had 17, while Jenkins and sophomore Josh Johnson had 11 each. Eight other players got in the scoring column, including seniors Corey Sheplee and Jerrid Sebesta, who along with Jenkins, were honored before the game on Senior Night.
Josh Cerveny led SDSU with 18 points, while Andy Moeller and Matt Jones added 11 apiece.
Note: North Dakota was 1-1 against Northern Colorado this season, winning 87-78 at home on Dec. 29 and losing in Greeley, 102-88, on Jan. 26.
Official Basketball Box Score
South Dakota State vs North Dakota
2/23/02 8 p.m. at Grand Forks, N.D. - Hyslop Sports Center
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VISITORS: South Dakota State 21-5, 15-3 NCC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Andy Moeller........ * 4-8 1-3 2-2 0 4 4 2 11 3 2 0 4 27
10 Austin Hansen....... * 2-9 2-7 2-2 0 1 1 2 8 1 2 0 2 26
34 Derrick Schantz..... * 3-7 1-3 0-0 2 1 3 2 7 0 3 0 0 27
50 Andy Cone........... * 1-4 0-1 2-2 0 5 5 2 4 1 3 0 0 19
52 Matt Jones.......... * 5-9 0-0 1-1 2 6 8 1 11 0 2 0 0 22
04 Luke Geiver......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
22 Mike Peek........... 4-8 1-1 0-0 2 3 5 3 9 0 2 0 0 21
30 Chris Stoebner...... 1-7 1-3 3-4 0 1 1 4 6 6 2 0 0 21
32 Jared Gass.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
42 Jared DeJong........ 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 3
44 Adam Robinson....... 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 17
54 Josh Cerveny........ 8-11 0-0 2-5 2 1 3 0 18 1 1 0 0 15
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 29-67 6-19 14-19 12 25 37 19 78 13 19 0 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-30 36.7% 2nd Half: 18-37 48.6% Game: 43.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-7 14.3% 2nd Half: 5-12 41.7% Game: 31.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-9 55.6% 2nd Half: 9-10 90.0% Game: 73.7% 3
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HOME TEAM: North Dakota 17-9, 12-6 NCC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Mario Porter........ * 3-5 0-0 0-1 1 2 3 1 6 7 1 0 0 27
30 Jeff Brandt......... * 7-13 3-6 0-0 1 3 4 2 17 3 0 1 1 24
32 Ryan Walker......... * 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 4 4 0 1 0 23
42 Josh Johnson........ * 3-3 1-1 4-4 1 4 5 3 11 0 2 1 0 20
54 Jerome Beasley...... * 2-11 0-1 1-2 1 3 4 2 5 0 3 0 0 19
12 Steve Bradley....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
14 Mike Johnson........ 0-2 0-1 2-2 2 1 3 0 2 2 1 0 1 15
20 Jade Jahner......... 2-3 2-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 6 3 1 0 0 12
22 Corey Sheplee....... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1
24 Robert Lolar........ 10-17 5-7 0-0 1 4 5 1 25 2 2 0 0 18
34 Nigel Jenkins....... 3-7 1-3 4-4 0 1 1 1 11 0 3 2 0 18
40 Jerrid Sebesta...... 1-1 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 1 4 1 0 0 0 9
50 Todd Rypkema........ 2-2 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 3 4 1 0 1 1 12
52 Jared Wells......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Team................ 2 2
Totals.............. 35-68 12-21 14-17 10 28 38 19 96 23 14 6 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-37 51.4% 2nd Half: 16-31 51.6% Game: 51.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 9-16 56.3% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 57.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-8 87.5% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 82.4% 1
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Officials: Curt Seter, John Yorkovich, Mark Gelle
Technical fouls: South Dakota State-None. North Dakota-None.
Attendance: 5319
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
South Dakota State............ 28 50 - 78
North Dakota.................. 54 42 - 96
North Central Conference game
North Dakota goes 9-0 at home in North Central Conference play for the first
time since 1991.