Herald Staff Writer
VERMILLION, S.D. -- UND came within five minutes of making a serious run at the North Central Conference men's basketball title.
But South Dakota got serious in the final five minutes, overcoming a four-point deficit to beat UND 66-62 on Saturday night in a defensive-minded, intense NCC game before 4,169 fans at the DakotaDome.
"We definitely had it in our grasp,"UND's Tom Jacobson said."We know that we can beat them. We should have won this game."
Had the Sioux maintained their 56-52 lead in the final five minutes, they would have trailed South Dakota by one game with six to play. Instead, UND (7-5 NCC, 18-5 overall) fell three games behind the Coyotes and now has to focus on making the NCAA Division II post-season tournament as an at-large team.
The Coyotes (11-2, 20-2) took a major step toward winning the NCC and the automatic tournament berth that goes with it.
"That was a great college basketball game,"South Dakota coach Dave Boots said."It was hard-fought. We knew UND had a good defense and we thought the score had to be in the 70s for us to win."
The Coyotes turned the tide with their free-throw shooting, making 12 of 13 free throws in the final 3:30 and 8 of 9 in the last two minutes. Jason Barrow's inside basket with 2:04 left gave South Dakota a 58-56 lead.
That was the basket that UND could not afford to give up, considering its offense struggled most of the game against South Dakota's difficult match-up zone.
"We had two little droughts after taking the lead,"UND coach Rich Glas said"We had our chances."
UND scored six points in the final five minutes, all coming by Blaine Ristvedt in the last 30 seconds. The Sioux just couldn't get South Dakota to miss from the free-throw line after Barrow's go-ahead basket. Jeremy Kudera carried the Coyotes down the stretch, making all eight of is free throws. Nathan Blessen, the NCC's top scorer, carried the load before the stretch and finished with 21.
UND trailed 36-26 at halftime."They attacked the game more than we did in the first half,"Glas said."But we battled them in the second half."
The Sioux rallied switching to a 2-3 zone in the second half, a surprising move considering the Coyotes are the best-shooting team in the league.
The strategy worked. South Dakota shot only 26 percent in the final 20 minutes. The Sioux, meanwhile, plugged away offensively, relying on the play of Chad Mustard (16 points), Hunter Reinke (13) and Jacobson (12).
"Their switch to a zone really surprised us,"Boots said."We can really shoot the ball, but we couldn't throw it in the ocean in the second half. It was a good coaching move by Rich. It really caught us off guard."
South Dakota's precision offense, sliced and diced UND in the first half."We were getting good movement in the first half and breaking them down,"Boots said."Maybe we were tiring them."
But the Sioux came back with the zone and had the Coyotes on the ropes after a Mustard free throw with 4:56 left gave the Sioux a 56-52 lead.
As they've done all season, South Dakota came up with a counter punch in the form of free throws and solid defense.
"We're disappointed we didn't win, but we've got six games left,"UND's Brady Larson said."We'd sure like to meet them again down here in the regional."
That's a possibility because South Dakota, with its weekend sweep, and a Metro State loss on Saturday night should regain the top spot in this week's North Central Region poll.
South Dakota 66, UND 62
Key play: Jason Barrow's basket for 58-56 South Dakota lead.
Key player: Nathan Blessen, 21 points.
Key stat: USD makes 12 or 13 free throws in the final 3:30.
| UND (62) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Mustard | 7-19 | 2-4 | 16 |
| Travis | 2-8 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Behrens | 2-5 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Munlin | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Larson | 1-7 | 1-2 | 4 |
| Jacobson | 4-7 | 0-0 | 12 |
| Ristvedt | 1-2 | 4-4 | 6 |
| Reinke | 4-10 | 3-5 | 13 |
| Totals | 22-61 | 10-15 | 62 |
| South Dakota (66) | |||
| Tibbetts | 2-3 | 3-4 | 8 |
| Ries | 1-13 | 2-3 | 5 |
| Blessen | 8-16 | 5-6 | 21 |
| Kudera | 4-10 | 9-9 | 19 |
| Barrow | 6-13 | 1-3 | 13 |
| Ahrendt | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Hickenbottom | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 21-58 | 20-25 | 66 |
Halftime–USD 36, UND 26.
3-Point goals–UND 8-21 (Jacobson 4-5, Travis 1-6, Larson 1-4, Reinke 2-5), USD 4-24 (Tibbetts 1-2, Ries 1-11, Kudera 2-8).
Fouled out–Travis.
Rebounds–UND 39 (Reinke 11), USD 41 (Kudera 11).
Assists–UND 13 (Larson 4), USD 18 (Tibbetts 9).
Total fouls–UND 19, USD 15.
A–4,169.