The Basics
Score: No. 2 North Dakota State 82, No. 7 Denver 62
Records: North Dakota State (22-9), Denver (11-21)
Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center - Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A burst of 22 straight points midway through the second half carried second-seeded North Dakota State past No. 7 seed Denver 82-62 in Saturday's second Summit League Men's Championship quarterfinal.  
 
Four Bison found their way to double figures, led by Rocky Kreuser’s 22 points. Kreuser went 6-6 at the charity stripe and 7-13 from the field, adding six rebounds over 28 minutes.
 
Tyree Eady, Grant Nelson and Sam Griesel rounded out NDSU’s top scorers with 15, 14 and 11, respectively. Eady pulled down a game-high eight boards and Griesel flirted with a triple-double, dishing out eight assists to go with six boards.
 
The Pioneers were paced by KJ Hunt’s 16 points, while Tevin Smith added 10. Michael Henn’s six rebounds was a team-high for Denver and came alongside three assists, which matched Hunt for the team lead.
 
Denver used a 15-4 run in the early going to carry a 17-10 into the first media timeout. The Bison, however, roared back to tie it at 21-all on a Kreuser 3-point play at 8:09, then took a lead 25-21 as a pair of Sam Griesel free throws capped a 7-0 rally.
 
Those bursts came as part of a larger seesaw affair in a tight half of action, where despite just three lead changes the teams combined for four runs of five or more unanswered. One of those runs put Denver back in the driver’s seat late in the half and helped the Pioneers to 35-32 halftime lead.
 
NDSU tied it on the opening possession of the second half with Kreuser’s second triple of the night, but moments later found themselves trailing once more as seven straight from the Pioneers gave DU a 42-35 advantage at 18:12.
 
The Bison crawled back to within a single possession three times over the next six minutes of action but were turned back each time by the Pioneer attack. Still, NDSU continued to push and with 9:53 on the clock, drew even at 52 on a pair of Griesel free throws. Those charity stripe points came early in a 22-0 rally that put the Bison in control, 69-52, near the six-minute mark.
 
That double-digit margin held up the rest of the way as NDSU closed out its fourth win all-time against DU in the league tournament.
 
The Bison will take on the winner of No. 3 seed Oral Roberts and No. 6 seed Western Illinois in Monday’s 8:30 p.m. semifinal.
 
Turning Point
North Dakota State found itself down five with 11:40 to play, but over the next six minutes put its foot on the gas and roared past Pioneers with 22 unanswered points.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Five Bison scored during NDSU’s second-half run of 22 straight.
• NDSU was plus-four on the boards and saw a trio of Bison—Sam Griesel, Tyree Eady and Rocky Kreuser—snag six or more rebounds.
• Each team tallied 17 bench points, and NDSU held a four-point advantage in the paint, 38-34.
• NDSU finished the game 50.9 percent from the field, using a 55.6% effort from the field in the second half to secure the win.
• The Bison were plus-12 in free throw attempts and sank 20 at the line compared to DU’s four free throw makes.

News & Notes

• North Dakota State will make its fifth consecutive Summit League Tournament semifinal appearance and 10^th all-time.
• NDSU has won nine consecutive matchups with the Pioneers.