TULSA—North Dakota State's Ben Woodside scored a game-high 29 points, including seven free throws in the final 32 seconds, as the Bison rallied for a 75-72 win over Oral Roberts University in the Summit League regular-season finale for both teams, Saturday at Mabee Center.

With the win NDSU (23-6 overall, 16-2 Summit) clinches the regular-season title outright and also clinches the No. 1 seed in next week's Summit League Tournament. The loss snaps ORU's (16-14, 14-4) five-game winning streak and also ends the Eagles 35-game home court conference winning streak.

ORU built as much as an eight point lead midway through the second half when Kelvin Sango (Tulsa, Okla.) made one-of-two free throws for a 56-48 lead with 9:58 left in the game. But a three-pointer by Woodside and a layup by Brett Winkelman trimmed the lead to 56-53 with 9:19 to go.

After Sango made a pair of free throws to make it 60-55 ORU with 8:19 to play, Jarvis left the game with leg cramps and NDSU made their charge. Woodside scored four straight points to make it a 60-59 game. A three-pointer by Dominique Morrison (Kansas City, Mo.) was answered by a jumper from Michael Tveidt. Morrison made another jumper for a 65-61 ORU advantage with 3:43 to play.

Woodside banked in a layup at 3:28 to pull the Bison within 65-63, and Tveidt drained a three from the corner after a limping Jarvis missed a layup at the other end, and NDSU had its first lead since mid-way through the first half, 66-65, with 2:50 to play.

Tveidt rebounded a missed Woodside layup with 2:18 to go for a 68-65 advantage, but a layup by Marcus Lewis (Long Beach, Calif.) and a jumper by Morrison helped ORU regain the lead at 69-68 with 40 seconds to play.

Woodside tripped over a defender on NDSU's next possession and was rewarded with a pair of free throws. He made both and the Bison regained the lead at 70-69. Morrison missed a heavily contested jumper at the other end with 16 seconds left.

The Bison made five-of-six free throws in the final nine seconds to seal the victory.

Backed by Jarvis' hot shooting, ORU controlled the first half. The senior guard scored 10 of ORU's first 19 points, giving the Golden Eagles a 19-14 lead with 13:53 left in the half.

North Dakota State went on a 13-6 run, taking a 27-25 lead on a Winkelman layup with 9:31 left in the half. But ORU responded with a run of its own, scoring 13 unanswered points over the next five minutes. A layup by Kevin Ford (Portland, Ore.) gave ORU a 38-27 lead with 4:22 left in the half.

The Bison chipped away at the lead over the final four minutes, but ORU maintained a 40-34 halftime advantage.

Jarvis scored a team-high 23 points, going over the 1,000-career point mark in the process. Playing his final home game, Jarvis was 8-of-19 from the field and 2-of-7 from 3-point range. Morrison scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Ford and Lewis each scored 10.
Woodside was 9-of-20 from the field and 10-of-11 from the line, adding seven assists and two steals. Winkelman scored 21 with nine rebounds, and Tveidt chipped in 17.

The Golden Eagles shot 43.9 percent for the game, but just 33.3 percent in the second half. ORU out-rebounded the Bison, 40-29. NDSU shot 44.8 percent for the game, including 50 percent in the second half.

With the regular season complete, the Golden Eagles turn their attention to the Summit League Tournament, March 7-10 in Sioux Falls, S.D. ORU, the No.2 seed, will face No. 7 seed South Dakota State, 8:30 p.m., Saturday.

--ORU--