by Bryan Boettcher, USD Sports Information
VERMILLION, S.D.—Xavier Fuller scored six of his team-high 20 points in overtime to lead South Dakota to a 76-71 win against Northern Arizona Saturday in non-conference play inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
Northern Arizona guard Jalen Cone scored a career-high 33 points and buried a game-tying three at the end of the regulation to force overtime. He was 7-of-15 from downtown, but was 11-of-31 from the field overall.
South Dakota (6-4) stayed perfect at home in five games. This was the first game of a season-long, four-game home stand that continues Wednesday night against Bellarmine. The start of Summit League play follows.
Mason Archambault (Standing Rock Sioux) was the man assigned to Cone for much of the night and turned in a brilliant all-around game. He registered his first collegiate double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds and also had three assists, three steals and two blocks. He didn’t commit a turnover was whistled for a foul one time in 44 minutes while chasing Cone.
“Cone is a heckuva player and he will get us ready for (Oral Roberts’) Max Abmas in a couple weeks because he’s a similar type of player,” said USD head coach Todd Lee. “I thought Mason was really good on him. He had to chase (Cone) around all night and (Mason) had 18 and 10. No turnovers and three assists. He had a great game.”
Tasos Kamateros added 10 points, five boards and three assists for South Dakota. Hunter Goodrick had 10 rebounds and five assists to go with three points. Nikola Zizic gave USD eight points in 10 minutes off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting and a pair of free throws.
“They’re a big team and it felt like we dominated overtime, which is good to see at home,” said Lee. “It was good to see X get going offensively. He had a good game against Northern Colorado and is starting to get going. We only had seven turnovers and that’s been a point of emphasis – taking care of the basketball.”
The game was an entertaining back-and-forth affair. The Coyotes led for much of the contest, but never by more than nine and that came early in the middle of the first half. South Dakota led 24-22 at the break behind eight from Fuller. Cone was 2-of-11 in the opening stanza. Both teams combined to make 2-of-21 from 3-point range in the first half before heating up in the second.
Cone truly got going down the stretch. He scored 15 consecutive points for the Lumberjacks (4-6) and only needed seven possessions to do it. He made four triples during that stretch, was fouled shooting another and made all three free throws. The result was Northern Arizona’s largest lead of the second half at 55-52 with 4:25 to go.
But South Dakota’s defense got better and Fuller and Kamateros combined for eight unanswered points that put the Coyotes back in front 60-57 with 16 seconds left in regulation. USD opted not to foul in the closing seconds and Cone buried the equalizer.
Fuller made two tough jumpers in overtime that allowed USD to break away. He (2-3), Archambault (5-6) and Kruz Perrott-Hunt (5-6) closed it out from the charity stripe.
