Miller, NDSU hold off Fort Wayne, advance in Summit tourney
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) Paul Miller scored 18 of his 29 points in the second half to help North Dakota State hold on for an 86-82 win over Fort Wayne on Sunday night in the first round of the Summit League Tournament.
Miller hit 5 of 8 from 3-point range and grabbed eight rebounds. Deng Geu added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, Tyson Ward scored 13 and AJ Jacobson 12 for No. 5 seed North Dakota State (15-16).
The Bison will play top-seeded South Dakota State in the semifinals on Monday.
Ward and Miller each hit a 3-pointer before Ward made a layup to make it 10-0 fewer than two minutes in and Jared Samuelson hit two 3s in a 40-second span to spark a 15-3 run that made it 45-27 after Geu's 3-point play with 3:31 left in the first half. NDSU pushed its lead to 23 points on three occasions in the second half, but the Mastodons used runs of 17-5 and 10-3 to trim their deficit to 81-80 after a layup by Bryson Scott with 1:29 to play. Fort Wayne committed two turnovers and went 1 for 3 from the field from there and NDSU held on.
Scott and John Konchar scored 29 points apiece for fourth-seeded Fort Wayne (18-14).
