North Dakota State pushed its season as far as they could, but ran into a buzzsaw.
That buzzsaw was Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles were electric right out of the gates in the Summit League Championship Game, racing out to an 18-3 lead and never looked back in a 92-58 blasting of the Bison.
Tournament MVP Max Abmas went for 26 points, while transfer Patrick Mwamba hit four three-pointers in the first half, part of his career high 20 points to put the game out of reach at halftime at 51-20.
NDSU standout Grant Nelson was held in check, limited to just 9 points and 5 rebounds, one day after scoring 20 points and 22 rebounds.
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ORU's dynamite transfer center Connor Vanover was a rim force, as he had 10 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks, affecting numerous Bison shots along the way.
The Bison season ends with a mark of 16-17, which may not look impressive, but considering this team started off the year at 2-9, this was a really good turnaround from Dave Richman's team.
The big question mark that surrounds this team as the offseason begins is what happens to Nelson? He undoubtedly will test the NBA waters, and based on that feedback will either stay in the draft, head into the transfer portal to move to a potential Power 5 school or return to NDSU.
WDAY's Dom Izzo and the Forum's Mike McFeely and Jeff Kolpack recap the game and look ahead to busy offseason.
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