N. Dakota St. tops Denver, advances in Summit tourney, 61-50

Mar 8, 2015, 12:29 am

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- A.J. Jacobson played all 40 minutes and scored a career-high 23 to help second-seeded North Dakota State beat No. 7 seed Denver 61-50 in the quarterfinals of the Summit League tournament Saturday night.

Lawrence Alexander added 12 points and seven rebounds for North Dakota State (21-9), which will play in the semifinals on Monday against the winner of Sunday's quarterfinal game between No. 3 seed Oral Roberts and sixth-seeded IUPUI.

Denver (12-18) took a 27-23 advantage into halftime and Brett Olson's free throws less than a minute into the second half made it a six-point game.

Jacobson scored 14 from there, including eight during a 17-3 run which gave the Bison a 40-32 lead with 11:50 left.

The Pioneers, who missed their first nine field goals and shot just 24 percent (6 of 24) in the second, trailed the rest of the way.

Brett Olson led Denver with 24 points.