Bison Go Cold in Second Half of 69-53 Loss at South Dakota State

BROOKINGS, S.D. - North Dakota State shot 25 percent in the second half and South Dakota State won its 26th straight home men's basketball game 69-53 before a sellout crowd of 6,063 at Frost Arena on Saturday, Jan. 26.

Nate Wolters scored 26 points and Tony Fiegen and Jordan Dykstra scored 14 each for South Dakota State, which improved to 16-6 and moved into a tie for second place with North Dakota State at 7-2 in The Summit League.

TrayVonn Wright scored 16 points, Mike Felt made four 3-pointers for 12 points, and Marshall Bjorklund grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds for the Bison, who dropped to 16-5 with their second straight road loss.

Wolters' 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first half pulled SDSU within 37-31 at the break, and the Jackrabbits extended that into a 22-3 run that put the game away.

Marcus Heemstra's 3-pointer at the 15:08 mark gave SDSU its first lead 41-40 and the Jacks scored 17 straight points before Wright's jumper at the 9:47 mark ended a nine-minute drought for NDSU.

The Bison went 6-for-24 from the field in the second half after shooting 58 percent in the first half (15-for-26).  SDSU ended the game 16-for-20 from the foul line compared to NDSU's 3-for-5.

North Dakota State returns home to play Kansas City at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, and South Dakota at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Bison Sports Arena.