The March March: Your Tuesday Wrap

Those of us at OSG HQ congratulate Western Kentucky, North Dakota State, and Cleveland State as they get to play later on in the month...

Here's your Dakotas March March wrap, thanks to our friends at KELO-TV...

North Dakota State coach Saul Phillips figured there was no need for a timeout in the final seconds. The ball was already right where he wanted it: in Ben Woodside's hands.

Woodside made a 17-foot jumper from the top of the key with 3 seconds left to give the top-seeded Bison a 66-64 victory Tuesday night against Oakland and send them to the NCAA tournament in their first season in Division I.

"I've been working on my offense for a while," Phillips said. "It's called 'get the ball to Woodside and get out of the way.' It's been effective."

NDSU (26-6), which won the regular-season title in its first season as a Summit League member, trailed through much of the game -- by 14 in the first half -- and needed a rally in the final five minutes to win.

Woodside, the Summit League player of the year, finished with 17 points. He averaged 23 on the year, including a 60-point game against Stephen F. Austin in triple overtime.

Woodside is one of five seniors who redshirted earlier in their careers as the Bison started to transition from Division II to I. They were targeting this season, hoping to take one good shot at an NCAA tournament bid.

Their patience paid off.

Michael Tveidt had 21 points for North Dakota State and was 4-for-4 on 3-point shots. His last 3 came with 1:26 left, put NDSU ahead 64-62 and capped an eight-point run.

Oakland's Keith Benson responded with a dunk for a 64-all tie with 12 seconds to play. Rather than call time out, NDSU charged down court and gave Woodside the ball.

"We talked about it all year where if it's a close game and it comes down to the wire and we need a shot to go up or to tie we've talked about not calling a time out but going with the flow," Woodside said. "That way the defense can't set up and that gives us the opportunity to get into transition."

"[Lucas] Moormann set a great screen and gave me just enough time, and Benson was sagging a little and I knocked it down."

A long 3-point try by Oakland's Johnathon Jones at the final horn bounced out.

"When it left my hand it looked good," Jones said. "But it wasn't."

Oakland (22-12) surged ahead in the first half on 63 percent shooting. The Golden Grizzlies cooled to 32 percent in the second half.

"I thought we played 36 outstanding minutes and four minutes down the stretch we played like a very young team," said Oakland coach Greg Kampe, whose teams starts a freshman, two sophomores, a junior and a senior.

Erik Kangas and Will Hudson each had 16 points for No. 3 seed Oakland. Jones added 15and Benson had 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

"To go from surrendering 62 percent shooting in the first half to 32 percent in the second half -- that's the difference in the game right there," Phillips said.

"This group has grown. The offensive end has always come relatively easy for them. This defensive end has been going to the dentist every day for five years. We finally got it taken care of and it couldn't have happened at a better time."

Hot Hand In The Frozen Tundra

Let me tell you the story of Ben Woodside, a sharp shooting guard from North Dakota State. You've never heard of Woodside. Take a trip to Fargo and check out his game because Bison games are rarely on TV. Woodside is putting up numbers this season that remind you of "Pistol" Pete Maravich 40 years ago.

Last Friday in a 112-111 triple overtime loss to Stephen F. Austin, Woodside put up 60 points against the Lumberjacks becaming the 25th player in NCAA Division one men's basketball history to score 60 points or more against a D-1 opponant. 49 of those points were scored in the final 8:51 of regulation and the overtimes.

The legend of Ben Woodside doesn't stop there. Against Stephen F. Austin he equalled "Pistol" Pete's NCAA record for free throws made in a game with 30.

The next night Woodside "cooled" off with 31 points and 10 rebounds in a 98-77 win over Georgia Southern. Over 2 days Woodside averaged a staggering 45.5 points.

Woodside is 2nd in the NCAA in scoring averaging 26.9 points per game but don't call him a ball hog. He's also 3rd in the nation in assists with 7.6 per game.

The Albert Lea, Minnesota native set school records in scoring at Albert Lea high school and was "Mr. Basketball" in Minnesota in 2004. He choose to play in Fargo for North Dakota State and has thrived. Woodside led the Bison in scoring, assists and steals last season and was in the top 5 in those 3 categories in the Summit League

Woodside is no secret to those who cover the Summit League, which North Dakota State is a member. He was voted the leagues pre-season player of the year.

The only big time school North Dakota State has faced this year so far is Minnesota. Tubby Smith, whose has seen a few big time players in his years coaching in the SEC and Big 10, and his Gopher team limited Woodside to 16 points but he did dish out 7 assists. The Bison lost that game but their current record in 7-3.

The Bison face Valley City State (an NAIA school) Thursday night then the legend of Ben Woodside takes his act to Hollywood. North Dakota State faces Southern California Saturday in Los Angeles. We will see how Woodside's act plays in L.A., perhaps the legend will continue.

Photo Courtesy: Bob Nelson, North Dakota State