GRAND FORKS South Dakota State used a big second half to defeat North Dakota 72-62 and win the regular season Summit League championship on Thursday night.
The win helped the Jacks improve to 17-12 on the season and improve their conference record to 11-4 ahead of Saturdays regular-season finale at North Dakota State.
SDSU started the game on a 6-2 run in the opening 98 seconds but the Fighting Hawks responded with a 13-2 run that was capped by Treysen Eaglestaffs jumper that put UND up 15-8 with 14:21 left in the first half.
The Jacks battled back to cut the lead down to 22-21 on Matt Mimss 3-pointer with 8:38 until halftime but the Hawks went on an 11-2 run that put them up 33-23 with 3:37 left in the first half.
SDSU seized momentum before going to the locker room, scoring the final seven points of the first half to go into halftime down 33-30 and after UND got the opening basket of the second half, the Jacks went on an 11-0 run that included a Mayo 3-pointer that gave the Jacks a 38-37 lead with 17:22 left in the game.
UND trailed by as many as seven points early in the second half but tied the game at 50-50 on Tsotne Tsartsidzes 3-pointer with 11:39 left and took the lead on an Eaglestaff 3-pointer with 11:06 to play.
SDSU had another response, going on an 11-2 run that was capped by William Kyle IIIs layup that put the Jacks up 61-55 with 5:46 remaining. Another 3-pointer by Tsartsidze brought the Hawks within three points on the following possession but the Jacks ran the lead back to eight points, taking a 66-58 lead on Luke Appels layup with 2:59 left in the game.
Although Tyree Ihenachos layup with 32 seconds left cut SDSUs lead down to 68-62, Charlie Easley scored a layup on the other side with 23 seconds to go which effectively put the game away.
Mayo scored 26 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists to lead the Jackrabbits to victory. Easley had 13 points, four rebounds and two assists while Appel had 12 points, five rebounds and an assist.
Kalen Garry had eight points and four rebounds, Kyle III had six points and six rebounds and Mims had five points and four rebounds.
SDSU shot 50 percent in the game including 12-of-26 (46.2%) on 3-pointers. The Jacks made 4-of-5 free throws, out-rebounded UND 33-30 and committed 10 turnovers.
B.J. Omot and Ihenacho had 14 points each and Ihenacho also grabbed six rebounds with three assists. Eaglestaff had 12 points while Amar Kuljuhovic had nine points and six rebounds,
Tsartsidze had eight points and five rebounds and Eli King grabbed six rebounds with three assists.
UND shot 41 percent in the game including 8-for-23 (34.8%) on 3-pointers. The Hawks made all four of their free throws and committed seven turnovers.
SDSU will close out the regular season on Saturday in Fargo against North Dakota State. The Jackrabbits and Bison will tip things off at 1 p.m.
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