Late Run Leads South Dakota Over LIU
A late second-half surge powered South Dakota over Long Island University, 68-58, in Palms Division action at the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off on Tuesday afternoon.
Mason Archambault scored 19 points and Damani Hayes was a force on the glass with 14 rebounds for the Coyotes, who advance to the Palms Division championship game against Sam Houston on Wednesday.
LIU’s Marko Maletic matched Archambault’s effort with 19 points of his own, while RJ Greene recorded 12 points, five rebounds and three assists in the contest.
A tightly contested second half had LIU holding a 51-48 lead with 4:46 remaining before a game-changing 3-pointer by South Dakota’s AJ Plitzuweit gave the Coyotes the lead, 53-51. That ignited a 14-0 run to build a 62-51 Coyotes advantage with 1:38 remaining.
South Dakota scored the first eight points of the game, but LIU answered with an 10-2 run to tie the game at 10 halfway through the opening frame. From there it was neck-and-neck throughout the half, with neither team leading by more than seven and LIU leading 31-28 at the break. Maletic had 11 points in the half for the Sharks.
Long Island will face Northern Illinois in the Palms Division third-place game Wednesday afternoon, with tipoff set for 11:00 am ET. South Dakota’s matchup against Sam Houston State will start at 1:30 pm. Both games will be streamed live on FSWBucs.com.