The Lumberjack men's basketball team would rally late in the second half and give the 24th ranked NDSCS Wildcats everything they wanted. In the end the upset bid would fall short with the Wildcats taking the game 86-77.
The first half started out back and forth a 12-4 Wildcat run would see them stretch the lead to double figures at 22-12. The Jacks would respond and work themselves back into within one possession on an 8-1 run of their own. A three pointer by Shaun Armstrong a few minutes later would tie the game back up at 25-25. Over the course of the final six minutes of the first half the two teams would trade baskets; at the half it would be the Lumberjacks leading 39-37.
The second half did not start how the Jacks would have scripted it as the Wildcats opened the half on a 21-2 run. The Jacks didn't go away as out of the media timeout they began to chip away at the Wildcat lead. A 7-0 Shandon Judd-Danne Anderson run would give the Lumberjacks a spark at cut the NDSCS lead to 14 at 64-50. A three pointer by Judd-Danne Anderson a few minutes later would bring the Jacks back within single digits for the first time in a long time. DCB would get the margin to within four at 79-75 with 1:38 but would not get necessary stops to get any closer falling 86-77.
Judd-Danne Anderson led four Lumberjacks in double-figures with a career high 20 points including 4-4 from beyond the arc. Brendan Redhead finished with 16 points. Max Groom added 14, and Danny Lazic chipped in 10 points. Kaleb Larson led NDSCS and all scorers with 21 points.
With the loss DCB falls to 16-12 overall and 8-11 inside Mon-Dak play. The Lumberjacks host United Tribes Wednesday night with tipoff scheduled for 7:30p.m.