BISMARCK, ND – Jaylan White scored a team-high 22 points and Dennis Austin III registered a double double to bring the University of Mary to the brink of knocking off Northern Sun-leading Northern State University. In front of a raucous home crowd, the Marauders fell just short of upsetting the Wolves, dropping a 69-64 decision as Northern State clinched the conference championship.
 
White was a key force in the Marauders fighting back from a 15-point deficit and closing within two points late in the game. Trailing 52-37, Wyatt Carr started a 17-4 run with back-to-back three pointers. White then scored on the next four UMary possessions on a variety of dashes to the rim and contested jumpers in traffic. Following Evan Anderson's second trey of the game, the Marauders found themselves within two points of the Wolves at 56-54 with just over five minutes remaining in the game and the McDowell Activity Center crowd exploding.
 
Reeling from the UMary run, Northern State regained its footing with a pair of Andrew Kallman free throws and baskets by Mason Stark and Ian Smith to push the visitors' advantage back to eight points at 62-54.
 
The Marauders continued to make runs at the Wolves but couldn't create a crack. White free throws with 37 seconds left closed the gap to 66-62. White then hit a layup with 24 seconds remaining to make it a one-possession game at 67-64.
 
Ian Smith responded with a pair of free throws to kill the Marauders momentum. Now a two-possession game, UMary missed three shots in the closing seconds to end the upset bid.
 
In addition to his 22 points, White also had six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Austin posted 10 points and 11 rebounds. Carr came off the bench and scored 12 points, hitting three treys. He also had three rebounds and two assists. Anderson scored six points by hitting two treys while playing for the first time since he was sidelined for injury in mid-January.
 
Matthew Kreklow blocked five shots and had five rebounds for UMary. Connor Hellebust scored eight points and added four assists.
 
Gabe King led Northern State with 19 points, hitting four treys in the game. Ian Smith posted a line of 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Parker Fox added 12 points and five blocks.
 
The Marauders (11-16 overall / 8-13 NSIC) shot just 35 percent for the game while the Wolves (21-6 / 17-4) connected on 45.5 percent of their shots. UMary used a +5 night in turnovers with a 14-10 edge in offensive rebounds to stay in the contest to the final moments.
 
UMary closes out its 2018-19 home schedule by hosting MSU Moorhead in the regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 23. Senior Day game time is 5:30 pm.
 
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