FARGO, N.D. (KELO.com) — The South Dakota Coyotes fought hard but ultimately fell to North Dakota State 72-70 inside the Scheels Center Wednesday night.
NDSU’s Tyson Ward took advantage of a defensive lapse off an inbounds play and scored a layup with less than two seconds left to seal the victory for the Bison. The possession before that, South Dakota guard Cody Kelley was called for a charge that gave the ball to the Bison.
The Coyotes (11-8) fell to 2-3 in conference play while North Dakota State improves to 12-6 and 3-1 in the Summit League. Stanley Umude led the way for the Coyotes with 23 points, nine rebounds and two blocks while Tyler Hagedorn finished with 21 points, five shy of his 1,000th career point. Triston Simpson rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points on the night.
As a team, the Coyotes shot 51 percent from the field (26-of-51) and 46 percent from deep (6-of-13). Ward finished with 14 points but none bigger than the two to win the game at the end. Vinnie Shahid led the Bison with 21 points and Tyree Eady finished with 18 points.
As a team, the Bison shot 49 percent from the field (27-of-55) and 33 percent from deep (10-of-30). South Dakota jumped out to a quick start leading 10-3 after a jumper from Stanley Umude.
The Coyotes extended their lead to 17-5 with 12:24 left in the first half. But with five minutes left in the half, the Bison went on a 17-1 run that gave them their first lead and a 41-34 advantage into the break. In the second half, the Coyotes started on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 43-41 and later took their first lead of the second half at 50-49 after a Hagedorn layup.
The Bison took a 66-61 advantage late in the second half, but a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer from Hagedorn tied things up at 68-all. Stanley Umude’s driving bucket tied things up once again with under a minute left at 70-70.
A great defensive possession later gave the Coyotes the ball with under 30 seconds left, but USD was unable to capitalize out of a timeout.
Up Next
The Coyotes host in-state rival South Dakota State on Sunday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. at 3:30 p.m.
