FARGO, N.D. -- The regular season came to a close for the Omaha men's basketball team Saturday afternoon, as the Mavericks fell 87-67 to North Dakota State at the Scheels Center.
 
The game snapped Omaha's four-game win streak and brings them to 16-15 (9-7 Summit League) on the year, while NDSU improves to 22-8 (13-3) and clinches a share of the league's regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for next week's Summit League Championship.
 
Leaders for Omaha
KJ Robinson led the Mavericks with 18 points alongside three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
 
JT Gibson added 15 points, and Marlon Ruffin had 12 more with a game-leading seven rebounds. Zach Thornhill matched him on the glass, pulling down seven more boards.
 
Wanjang Tut also had eight points, four rebounds, two assists and three blocks.
 
Leaders for North Dakota State
Three Bison celebrated their Senior Day with 20-point scoring performances: Tyson Ward (29), Jared Samuelson (21) and Vinnie Shahid (20). Samuelson starred from deep, hitting 7-of-9 from beyond the arc, and Ward finished 11-of-16 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from long range.
 
Team Stats
NDSU shot 48.4% (31-of-64) with 15 threes for the day and was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line. Omaha finished at 41.7% (25-of-60) with six triples, led by two apiece from Robinson and Ruffin.
 
Inside the First Half
Ward came out on fire for NDSU, putting up 14 points in the first nine minutes of the game. Two early 7-0 runs helped the Bison to a 19-10 lead.
 
The Mavericks trailed by as many as 20 when Samuelson hit his fifth three at 4:23. But the Mavericks made a late push, mustering consecutive triples from Ruffin, Gibson and Ayo Akinwole that cut it to 51-41 with 36 seconds left. Shahid then drew a foul on a 3-point attempt with four seconds remaining and made all three shots at the line to give the Bison a 54-41 advantage at the half.
 
Samuelson started 6-of-6 from three for 18 points at the half, while Ward had 14 and Shahid had 12 more. Gibson (11) and Ruffin (10) were both in double figures for the Mavericks, who shot 53.1% (17-of-32) to NDSU's 57.6% (19-of-33) with 10 treys.
 
Inside the Second Half
Omaha got no closer than 13 in the second half, shooting just 28.6% (8-of-28) from the floor.
 
Robinson hammered a pair of threes for 12 points in the final 20 minutes.
 
Up Next
Omaha awaits final seeding for next week's Summit League Championship, set for March 7-10 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The Mavericks are assured of facing Oral Roberts in the No. 4/5 game next Sunday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinal round.
 
The finalized tournament bracket will be released tonight at the conclusion of all regular-season games.