North Dakota State escapes Western Illinois 64-62

Feb 1, 2015, 05:37 pm

MACOMB, Ill. -- Kory Brown scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds as North Dakota State escaped with a 64-62 victory over Western Illinois on Sunday.

Brown made a basket with 2:17 left for a 62-61 lead and his free throw with 52 seconds left gave NDSU a 63-61 lead. Tate Stensgaard hit one free throw on Eastern Illinois' next possession, but the Leathernecks turned the ball over twice in the final 24 seconds, sandwiched around a Chris Kading free throw.

Lawrence Alexander had 14 points, Kading finished with 12 and A.J. Jacobson added 11 for North Dakota State (15-7, 7-2 Summit).

Each team only made one field goal apiece in the final five minutes.

Garret Covington paced Western Illinois (8-12, 3-6) with 13 points. Jamie Batish and J.C. Fuller added 12 points apiece, and Jabari Sandifer had 10. Batish made 4 of 5 shots behind the arc.