I’ve gotta say, that first half was actually pretty fun to watch. The biggest story to me was the resurgence of Carlin Dupree.
Photo Credit NDSU Men’s Basketball Twitter
NDSU made a concerted effort to push the pace and its exactly that kind of up tempo game where Carlin can leverage his superior athleticism and really shine. He had 11 points in the first half to lead all scorers (tied with Obi Emegano for ORU) including a couple spectacularly athletic layups and a sick behind the back dish which made me, for one, smile. That athleticism is what makes Carlin one of my favorite players, and I can’t wait until Dave Richman has enough depth on his roster to really unleash Carlin, push the pace to its maximum, and not have to worry about tiring his guys out like he has to this year with that tiny 7 man rotation.
LA also had a bit of a bounce-back in this half which was great to see. He finished the half with 9 points, and was even getting some of that ‘Lebron James star treatment’ apparently judging by a pretty egregious walk at the 10:15 mark but being allowed to continue the play and score anyway. Hey… I’m not complaining. You win Summit League Player of the Year, you deserve a little star treatment.
Kory Brown picked up a quick 2 fouls and had to ride the bench for a massive chunk of the first half so that Coach Richman could ensure he’d be back for the 2nd half. His tight, in your face defense draws a lot of fouls, and it just wasn’t worth the risk for coach Richman to leave Brown on the floor and risk losing him for the game. Plus, its not like we haven’t finished a half with a 6 man rotation before. Things got real dicey, however, when, after Brown was already relegated to the bench, AJ Jacobson picked up a quick 2 fouls in 30 seconds which sent him to the bench as well with plenty of time left in the half. That meant NDSU was down to leaving the same 5 man unit on the floor, or risk throwing in someone like Ishola in the most important game of the Bison’s season thus far. Luckily for us, however, that wasn’t an issue at all.
(Photo Credit: Michael Vosburg, Fargo Forum via http://www.inforum.com/sports/bison/3646097-werner-emerges-post-presence-bison )
That was because EVERYONE seemed to have shown up to play in that first half. Big Dex had a big resurgence with 6 points, 5(!!!) boards, and one nasty block in the first half. He was throwin’ around putbacks and cleaning the glass like his life depended on it and it was SPECTACULAR to see. He’s been in a bit of a lull to end the season, and I had been worried it was because the fatigue of a full season of big minutes really wore him down. He’s not exactly a lithe guy, and he’s built more like a buffalo than a deer. But tonight showed the big man is still ready to play important minutes for this team, and he cuoldn’t have picked a better game for his comeback.
It was just Dex though, but our other big man Chris Kading through together an excellent half as well. He only had 3 points but he was making great moves down low, facilitating the offense, grabing steals, blocking shots, just everything we could want from him. A really solid half for Kading as well.
By the end of the first half almost everything was going the bison’s way, best illustrated by the fact that around the 2:30 mark LA scored over a triple team like it was just part of his daily regimen. Kading was blocking shots, Werner was slamming putbacks, and all was right with the world. ORU ended the half on an 0/5 shooting spell while the Bison put together a 7-0 run in that same 3 minute span. Oral Roberts ended up finishing the half on a 1/8 shooting spell, the Bison ended the half on a 15-6 run over the last 7 minutes, and built themselves an 8 point lead at 34-26. It was clear that NDSU’s pace was giving Scott Sutton’s team problems. Coach Richman even hinted as much as he was walking off the court noting that NDSU needed to run with it every time they got the ball and ride Dupree’s hot hand this game. Amen sir. Nothing I’d enjoy better than an up tempo Bison beatdown if I could be so lucky.
Unfortunately, however, the second half didn’t start out as well as the first half ended. The Bison made a basket early, but then promptly went on a 7 minute scoring drought, allowing ORU to cut the lead to 1 at 36-35 by the 14 minute mark.
ORU’s 9-0 was mercifully ended by Paul Miller after he hit a very difficult step back jumper from way deep at the top of the key and things began to improve for a while from there. Dupree continued his excellent play with an awesome possession where he forced a jump ball. He just kept getting his hands in passing lanes, poking balls away, and making all the tough, gritty plays we needed from him. EASILY the most important player for the Bison tonight in my opinion (although the most clutch player late is something we’ll get to later). It seems only fitting to me for him to ball out in the Summit League Tournament since he really broke out for the Bison in the NCAA Tournament last year. The guy seems to love the hot lights, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
(Photo Credit: Nick Schnelle, Columbia Tribune)
The Golden Eagles, however, refused to give up as Obi Emegano lived up to every bit of hype surrounding him, ending the game with 25 points to lead all scorers and single-handedly keeping ORU in this game. The Bison let ORU tie the game up again late as several perfect dishes and passes by Dupree to set up buckets went unfinished. A lot of these misses were by Jacobson and it clearly wasn’t his night, but I thought it was a testement to his game and resolve that he never hung his head and got down but just kept working, finishing the game with 11 points, 8 in the second half.
The last couple minutes of the game were an absolute roller coaster. It all started with a CLUTCH Jacobson 3 to push the lead back to 5 at 51-46 followed by a defensive stop, and what could have been a beautiful transition layup by AJ on the other end, but the ball was tipped out of his hands at the last second (again, just wasn’t his night. I’m proud as hell that he got 11, but if he was up to his normal level it would have been 20 and if he was playing as well as he did last game it would have been 30).
With about 3 minutes left in the game, however, Obi Emegano hit 2 free throws to tie things back up. LA answered back with a beautiful bucket with the shot clock expiring. Then Kading followed that up with ANOTHER MASSIVE BLOCK on the other end. The Bison would miss on the next possession. Then Kory Brown got called for an ABSOLUTELY BOGUS blocking foul (his feet were CLEARLY set and it was BEAUTIFUL defense… but hey… Obi Emegano gets the same kind of star treatment as LA, so I guess that one goes against Brown… even if its the wrong call). Anyway, as you might have expected Emegano drains them both to tie the game again at 56 all with 98 seconds left and I’m all…
Then AJ Jacobson follows up with a CLUTCH bucket to put the Bison up 2 with 1:17 to go. ORU grabs the ball and pushes it up court. Obe Emegano falls over in what should obviously have been a travel but wasn’t called… BUT no worries because WHO ELSE BUT CARLIN DUPREE comes up with the ball and SOMEHOW manages to call the timeout and save the possession for the Bison.
However, the Bison immediately turned the ball over on the other end… no bueno…
46 seconds left. ORU ball. NDSU up by 2, 58-56. Back to back ORU timeouts as the Bison set up some BEAUTIFUL defense. 21 seconds left. Obi Emegano misses the potential game tying jumper but grabs his own rebound, kicks it out to Bobby Word in the corner for the game winning three! Oh no! Freaking out!
BUT WAIT!!! WHATS THIS?!?! IS IT A BIRD?!?! IS IT A PLANE?!?! NO!!! ITS LAWRENCE FREAKING ALEXANDER FLYING OUT OF NOWHERE TO BLOCK THE THREE, GRAB THE BALL, AND GET FOULED!!!
That was pretty much all she wote. PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW thank goodness that ones over and the Bison won.
That was both an exciting and a historic game. LA made it to 700 career points tonight, which is obviously nothing to sneeze at, but right now I’m a little distracted by the win itself. The upcoming game against SDSU will be tough. We all know that. The Jackrabbits are the favorite. They’re playing in their home state. They have every advantage you could want. But right now I’m riding on cloud 9 with this Bison team, and I’d believe they could beat SDSU even if you told me Nate Wolters was coming back to start for them. Obviously things aren’t as peachy as all that, but this has been a spectacular season to watch, this team has made a spectacular run, and I’m so thankful that we get to watch at least one more game tomorrow night. But that being said, I certainly wouldn’t mind if Dave Richman and the guys wanted to make it 1 more game and 1 more Tournament to send LA out in style.
Where is North Dakota? 