The top-seeded North Dakota State men’s basketball team earned a 75-69 victory over Oral Roberts in the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament on Monday evening, advancing to the championship game for the sixth time in eight seasons.
Senior Tyson Ward led NDSU with 21 points, and Vinnie Shahid added 17 for the Bison.
Sophomore Sam Griesel finished with nine points and seven rebounds, Rocky Kreuser had eight points and eight boards, and junior forward Tyler Witz pulled down a season-high six rebounds.
The Bison led 33-30 at halftime before exploding for 9-2 run to go ahead 42-32 with 16 minutes remaining. ORU stormed back to tie the game at 48-48 with 10 minutes left.
Ward drilled a three-pointer on NDSU’s next possession, and the Bison never trailed again. Cameron Hunter was clutch at the free throw line down the stretch, going a perfect 10-for-10 to score 10 of his 12 points from the line.
Shahid had a pivotal tip-in with 54 seconds left to stretch the Bison advantage to 65-59.
NDSU made 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) from three-point range and committed only six turnovers in the game.
The Bison will play either No. 6 seed North Dakota or No. 7 seed Purdue Fort Wayne in Tuesday’s championship game at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
