UND gave it its best shot.
South Dakota's Ben Reis, however, gave it his best shot, too. And Reis' shot may have killed any chance for the rest of the North Central Conference to catch the hot-shooting Coyotes.
Reis' fade-away jumper from the right corner with 4.4 seconds left gave South Dakota a thrilling 84-82 NCC men's basketball win over UND on Saturday night before 4,002 fans at Hyslop Sports Center.
The loss was a crushing one for the Sioux, who fell three games behind the league-leading Coyotes (11-2 NCC, 19-3) with three weekends left in the season. Still, there was some comfort in the fact that UND (7-5, 13-8 overall) played one of its best games -- home or away -- in years.
"We couldn't have done much better," UND coach Rich Glas said.
The difference between the Sioux and the No. 10-ranked Coyotes is half an inch. Hunter Berg's 3-point attempt from the left wing at the buzzer hit the front of the iron before falling away. His miss allowed the Coyotes to escape with a well-earned win considering they trailed by eight points early in the second half.
Berg was confident when he released his last-second shot. "I had a good look at the basket," Berg said. "I would have bet money that it was going in. But I guess it just wasn't meant to be."
South Dakota scored on its final five possessions in the last two minutes, but no basket was as huge as the one from Reis, who scored 18 points. The Coyote guard needed two screens on the baseline before he lofted his fade-away just in front of the 3-point stripe.
"(Nate) Blessen hit the first guy and (Jason) Barrow cleaned up the mess," said Reis, referring to his screens along the baseline. "I got a great look and it was fortunate that the ball went in."
Berg was guarding Reis on the play. "You can look back and say I should have been a half-step quicker," Berg said. "But it takes a clutch guy to hit a shot like that. They played well. They deserved to win."
For the Sioux, it was hard to key on any one player down the stretch. Four South Dakota players were in double figures, led by Reis and Blessen, who also scored 18 points. Kory Petzenhauer added 15 while Jeremy Kudrna, with two huge 3-pointers to rally the Coyotes from their eight-point deficit, finished with 13.
"The reason we're so successful down the stretch is because teams can't key on any one guy," Reis said.
UND trailed 42-39 at the half. But an 18-7 run in the first six minutes of the second half gave the Sioux a 57-49 advantage before one of UND's most boisterous crowds in years.
"To come back when we were down eight and get the lead was the key," South Dakota coach Dave Boots said. "They were on the verge of taking control"
Kudrna hit his first back-breaking 3-pointer at the 7:53 mark, which gave South Dakota a 65-63 lead. His second came at 5:14 and put the Coyotes up 70-67. Both came from the top of the key.
UND played as well as South Dakota in the final minutes. Chad Mustard (24 points), Berg (20) and Marcus Travis (12) all came up with key points in the final three minutes.
But UND couldn't get the defensive stop it needed in the final two minutes.
"Wasn't that a great college game?" Boots asked. "I thought Hunter's shot was going in. He hit one from the same spot earlier. He's such a great player."
UND isn't thinking about the NCC title now. The Sioux now turn their attention to a regional playoff berth with a second-place finish. "This makes it tougher to make it to the playoffs," Travis said. "Now, our mindset is to finish strong. We did prove to a lot of people that we're a good basketball team."
| UND (82) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Mustard | 8-18 | 8-8 | 24 |
| Travis | 4-6 | 3-4 | 12 |
| Behrens | 5-9 | 2-2 | 13 |
| Berg | 6-8 | 3-4 | 20 |
| Jacobson | 3-3 | 0-0 | 7 |
| Larson | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Ristvedt | 0-0 | 4-4 | 4 |
| Reinke | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Badding | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 27-49 | 20-22 | 82 |
| South Dakota (84) | |||
| Blessen | 8-14 | 1-1 | 18 |
| Kudera | 5-9 | 0-0 | 13 |
| Barrow | 3-9 | 2-2 | 8 |
| Tibetts | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Petzenhauser | 6-9 | 2-2 | 15 |
| James | 2-7 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Ries | 5-8 | 4-4 | 18 |
| Tsakalaidis | 2-2 | 3-4 | 7 |
| Hickenbottom | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 31-59 | 12-13 | 84 |