FARGO, N.D. - The Mavericks dropped a close one to North Dakota State on Saturday as they were held off at the last second in an 81-79 loss to split the season series.

Omaha is now 12-14 on the season and 5-6 in the Summit League, while the Bison improve to 12-13 overall and are now a half game ahead in the standings at 5-5 in league play.

Leaders for Omaha 
Frankie Fidler posted his 12th game this year with 20+ points as he led the Mavericks with 22 after going 7-for-16 from the field and making a team-high four 3-PT FGs. Nick Davis and Grant Stubblefield both scored double figures today as well, with the former totaling 12 and the latter 10. On defense, Fidler, Davis, Marquel Sutton, and JJ White were all tied with six rebounds.

Leaders for North Dakota State
The Bison had six players in double figures, paced by Andrew Morgan with 18. Noah Feddersen, who scored 11 points, also led NDSU with eight rebounds and five assists.

Team Stats 
Despite how close the final score was, North Dakota State had significant leads in FG% (53.7% to 40.9%) and 3-PT FG% (50.0% to 37.5%), though, the Mavericks made up ground on FT% at 80.0% to 62.5%. Omaha also had the edge in rebounds at 34 to 31, as well as a huge lead in second-chance scoring at 18 to three. 

Inside the First Half 
The Mavericks maintained a slim lead for most of the half, pulling ahead 4-2 on a three-pointer from Fidler at 14:51 and staying out front for nearly 10 minutes. 13 defensive boards, 10 of which came from Fidler, White and Davis, helped limit NDSU's shooting chances as they were held to just eight field goals through the first 15 minutes. Offensively, aggressive play in the paint paid off as Tony Osburn, White, and Davis all had multiple clutch buckets to keep Omaha on top.

Coming off the bench late in the period, Jamal Ambrose played a crucial role in keeping Omaha in the lead, responding to a game-tying Bison three-pointer with his first triple 15 seconds later at 5:14. After NDSU pulled ahead 25-23 with just over four minutes left, Ambrose came right back and tied it with a second-chance layup. While the Bison managed to pull ahead in the closing minutes, Jaeden Marshall knocked down a deep three to keep it a one-point game with a minute and half left, before Fidler drained a remarkable three-point buzzer beater over two defenders to keep it a one-point game at 36-35.

Inside the Second Half 
While the Mavericks were able to stay within one through the first couple minutes thanks to another three from Fidler, the Bison soon began pulling away after a 20-11 run over the first 10 minutes made it 61-51. Six points from Stubblefield from 8:36-8:04 briefly gave the Mavericks new life as he brought the deficit back under 10 points. NDSU, though, quickly retook control of the court and soon went up by 13, their largest lead yet, with under five minutes to play.

Down the stretch, the Mavericks converted on a trio of offensive boards from White, Davis, and Stubblefield, before the latter got a steal off an NDSU inbound and took it back for a layup to make it a five-point game with one minute left. 30 seconds later, a driving layup from Fidler would cut the Bison lead to 75-72. Fidler would come up clutch again with his fourth three-pointer to make it a two-point game with 10 seconds to go. Looking to replicate what he did to end the first half, he sent one more up from behind the arc during the waning seconds and just barely missed the would-be game-winning basket.

Game Notes 
- Fidler made another leap in Omaha's all-time scoring list as he finished the day with 1342 career points, bringing him from 13th to 12th place overall and third among players to only compete in the Division I era.
- Osburn became the fifth Maverick to top 200 points on the season after coming into today's game with 194 points and scoring seven.
- Stubblefield now has three double-digit scoring games in his rookie season.

Up Next
The Mavericks kick off their final homestand of the season next week as they return home to host South Dakota on Thursday, February 15 for a 7 p.m. game on Military Appreciation Night.