Second-Half Run Dooms 'Dons in Fargo

Friday, December 30

Fargo, N.D.

8:00 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

7-6, 1-3Summit

North Dakota State

10-3, 3-1Summit

IPFW

North Dakota State

Photo by: Lucas Carter

12/30/2011 7:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FARGO, N.D. - The IPFW Mastodons used a 14-0 run in the first half to jump ahead early; however, North Dakota State answered with a 14-0 run of its own with nine minutes to play in the game, and the Bison made 22 of their last 24 free throws in the game to pull away to an 84-68 win at the Bison Sports Arena on Friday evening.

The loss drops IPFW to 1-3 in the Summit League and 7-6 overall, while North Dakota State improves to 3-1 in the league, and 10-3 overall.

Frank Gaines scored a game-high-tying 26 points, making 10-of-23 shots from the field, and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Justin Jordan scored an IPFW career-high 14 points, hitting 4-of-8 of his shots from beyond the three-point arc, while Trey McCorkle added 10.

John Peckinpaugh pulled down a team-leading six rebounds, five of those on the offensive end, while Mario Hines grabbed five in the losing effort. Antwaun Boyd dished out a game-high four assists, while he, Gaines, and McCorkle each finished the game with two steals apiece.

North Dakota State came out firing in the game, scoring the contest's first six points, leading 6-0 with 17:45 to play, before the 'Dons held the Bison scoreless for the next five minutes, scoring 14 points in that same span to lead by eight at 14-6. \

The lead was cut to one at 18-17, before the Mastodons used another run, this one 12-1 to put the margin at 10, a high-water mark for IPFW in the game.

With IPFW leading by 10 with 1:57 to play, NDSU scored the final eight points of the first half, culminating with an old-fashioned three-point play by point guard Lawrence Alexander, cutting the deficit to two heading into the locker room at halftime.

IPFW's second-half lead grew to as many as six at 45-39 with 17:34 to play before NDSU rattled off seven straight points to take its first lead since the early portions of the game at 46-45.

The lead changed hands six more times over the next five minutes, with the teams tied at 54 with 9:01 to play in the contest. With the game tied, the Bison defense tightened, and the offense erupted, scoring the game's next 14 points over a five and a half minute span, giving the hosts a 14-point lead with 3:24 to play in the game.

The 'Dons were unable to close the gap to fewer than a dozen the rest of the way, as the Bison iced the game by making 20-of-22 free throws in the last five minutes of the game.

IPFW made 24-of-58 shots in the game, a percentage of 41.4, while holding NDSU to 47.1 percent shooting (24-of-51).

Alexander scored 26 points for the Bison, making 14-of-16 free throws in the game, while Marshall Bjorklund scored 23 while pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds.

The Mastodons return home on Tuesday, January 3, when the squad plays host to the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah University, in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Memorial Coliseum.

~Feel the Rumble~