Bison buck the Coyotes in last seconds of Thursday match
The Summit League-leading North Dakota State Bison may have improved to 6-1 in the Summit Thursday night, but they needed a 5-0 run in the final 33 seconds in order to pull off the 66-63 victory.
The University of South Dakota Coyotes were back home in the DakotaDome, where they had only lost one game prior to Thursday’s game. The Coyotes suffered back-to-back losses on the road earlier in the week.
Interim head coach Joey James and his team fell behind quickly in the first half and had no answer for NDSU’s senior forward Trayvonn Wright. Wright was red hot throughout the first half and led his team to a 44-33 first half lead.
“We just didn’t do a very good job defensively (in the first half),” James said. “We didn’t really follow our game plan. We went into half and made some adjustments and came out with more energy and focus.”
The energy of the fans picked up when sophomore forward Tyler Flack threw down an alley-oop and followed it up with a block on the other end. That forced fans inside the DakotaDome to get up on their feet. Flack said it was exciting for him to help lead his team during a pivotal 7-0 run.
“The alley-oop was great, especially after I had a slow start in the first half,” Flack said. “I came out with more energy in the second half, as did everyone else.”
The Coyotes kept clawing back and capped off the run when sophomore guard Trey Norris got a steal and layup on the other end to tie it up at 52 with 10:37 remaining.
Junior guard Brandon Bos would then help the Coyotes take a 61-56 lead with 4:07 remaining. But Bos, who scored the team’s final last eight points, was out-dueled in the final minute of the game by NDSU’s senior guard Taylor Braun.
Braun came into the game as the top scorer in the Summit, averaging 18.9 points per game. Braun had fits all night, with senior guard Karim Rowson, Bos and others all keying in on him throughout the entire game. For the first 39 minutes, he couldn’t buy a bucket, only shooting 2-14. But like most big-time players, Braun came up the biggest when it mattered most, scoring the Bison’s final five points in the final minute of the game.
The Coyotes had some opportunities late but couldn’t take advantage of them. Senior center Trevor Gruis missed two free throws with nine seconds remaining and sophomore guard Adam Thoseby missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
“Honestly, that shot felt like the best one all night,” he said. “I honestly thought it was going in.”
Thoseby finished the game with 11 points on 3-4 shooting from downtown.
“That was a heck of a game,” James said. “We had every opportunity to win that basketball game.”
The Coyotes now have to prepare for another home game, this one against two-time defending Summit League champions South Dakota State. James said it is essentially like playing North Dakota State all over again. The tip-off is set Saturday at 4 p.m.
