Fight breaks out between players, coaches after NDSU's win over Oral Roberts
Shortly after North Dakota State wrapped up an 18-point win over Oral Roberts on Thursday night, a scuffle erupted in the Summit League game at the Scheels Center in Fargo.
North Dakota State ended the 77-59 win on a dunk, which came just after the buzzer and didn’t actually count. After the teams were in the handshake line, Oral Roberts coach Paul Mills was seen yelling at North Dakota State players and coaches on the floor — which led to a massive fight between both teams.
Eventually, both teams were separated and left the floor.
A last-second dunk resulted in words being exchanged & a scuffle between @ORUMBB & NDSU during the postgame handshake.
Paul Mills exchanged words with NDSU coaches and players.
Elijah Lufile was involved in the scuffle and had to be restrained from re-entering the fray. pic.twitter.com/Q5ZcHFD32D— Cayden McFarland (@caydenmc) February 18, 2022
"You see the emotions of the game. You saw two teams playing until the end and some things spilled over," North Dakota State coach Dave Richman said, via InForum’s Mike McFeely. "That's not anything that I want this program to be a part of. There are situations that are going to be learning experiences for myself and our group as we move forward.
"Anything from our end, I will apologize to Oral Roberts and coach Mills. But I also asked our guys to play until the end and we played to the end tonight."
Mills issued a statement on Twitter after the game, and said that he had spoken with Richman.
I am very saddened about what transpired at the conclusion of our game tonight v NDSU. ORU nor NDSU want to be represented in a negative light. Dave Richman & I have spoken & I have the utmost respect for the Bison program. Congratulations to the Bison on a dominant performance.
— Paul Mills (@CoachMills) February 18, 2022
The Summit League has yet to address the incident.
Sam Griesel led North Dakota State with 22 points in the win, and Rocky Kreuser had 13 points and nine rebounds. The Bison, who have now won six in a row and nine of their last 10, held Oral Roberts to just 25 points in the second half, a season low. North Dakota State now sits half a game ahead of Oral Roberts in the Summit League standings, but still trails conference leader South Dakota State by 3.5 games.
