Evading his defender, North Dakota State point guard Lawrence Alexander saw the crease between him and two Oakland jerseys.

The freshman was between Oakland defenders Drew Valentine and Travis Bader, and before either of the two could converge and erase the space to operate, Alexander connected on a three-pointer with four seconds left that would be the spoiler for Saturday night’s homecoming contest.

In the remaining seconds, the Golden Grizzlies (12-12, 6-6 Summit League) were unable to get off a shot attempt, and North Dakota State trumped Oakland, 78-75, in front of the fourth-largest crowd ever at the O’rena.

“(Oakland) actually blew up our play; we had isolated (sophomore guard) Taylor (Braun), and they did a really good job of adjusting to it,” North Dakota State coach Saul Phillips said. “I would’ve done the same thing they did. L.A. shoots it 23 percent from three, and he hit that one, but I thought they defended it really well. Big, big shot for a freshman; I’m proud of my guy.”

Oakland head coach Greg Kampe didn’t put quite as positive of a spin on the defensive prowess of his team regarding Alexander’s triple.

“The last possession of the game is the epitome of our season: a wide-open, uncontested shot to win the game,” Kampe said. “Who gets a wide-open, uncontested shot with 20 seconds to go in the game? Who allows a wide-open, uncontested shot? Only us; they made it, we deserved for them to make it, we deserved everything that happened, and that’s our season.”

“That last 30 seconds is our season. And if our guys think that we’re just going to flip a switch when we get to March, they’re dead wrong. They’re going to be a very disappointed group of kids.”

Coming off Thursday’s effort where Bader had one of the best scoring performances in Oakland history, Hamilton, in stretches, was just as impressive, if not more so. The Chicago native drained an isolated 3-pointer with 35 seconds left over 6-7 sophomore guard Taylor Braun with 35 seconds left to tie the game at 75-all that had the O’rena crowd on its feet. More impressive, Hamilton had a streak spanning both halves where he scored 23 of Oakland’s 26 points in less than seven minutes.

Despite finishing with 37 points and six assists, the disappointment postgame was still evident for Hamilton.

“I knew the team who made the stop was going to get the win,” Hamilton said. “Unfortunately, we made some plays, but they made one more play than we did.”

Both coaches seemed visibly disgruntled with the officiating throughout the night, but the consensus from both was that the play was more physical than the previous meeting in Fargo, where the Bison (14-7, 7-4) defeated Oakland 96-69 earlier this season.

“The one at our place was fairly physical, but it was two teams playing extremely hard, toe-to-toe, not willing to back down an inch; two teams capable of making some noise in Sioux Falls,” Phillips said. “These games I know are going to be emotional and taxing. This game takes place aside the other ones as being just a really good mid-major basketball game.”

On the heels of a three-game losing streak, the Bison got their first win ever on the O’rena floor thanks to an efficient effort on the offensive end, shooting 63 percent from the floor. Sophomore forward Marshall Bjorklund, one of the nation’s leaders in shooting percentage, went 10-for-12 with a team high 21 points. Alexander also scored 17 points, including two triples from the start that helped give the Bison a nine-point advantage in the first half. Braun, the team’s leading scorer (16.6 ppg), contributed 15 as well for North Dakota State.

Oakland, which led for a good portion of the second half, got a record performance out of junior forward Valentine, who scored 15 points for the Golden Grizzlies. Bader, who notched his career-high of 37 points last game against South Dakota State, followed up with 12 points on 4 of 11 shooting, with all his makes coming from outside the perimeter.

The Golden Grizzlies look to get back on track this Wednesday, traveling to take on IUPUI (8-15, 2-9). Tip-off is at 7 p.m. Oakland defeated the Jaguars, 93-81, at home earlier this season.