Orem, Utah – In a game where both teams held double-digit leads, it was home-standing Utah Valley that prevailed with a 67-64 victory over the Fighting Sioux in another tightly-contested Great West clash between the two teams on Saturday at the UCCU. 

Unlike the first meeting that went into four overtimes, this one did not go into extra sessions, but that was not determined until junior Patrick Mitchell's 3-point attempt at the buzzer missed to the right. The victory gave UVU (17-10, 9-1 GWC) a season sweep of the Sioux (13-12, 5-3 GWC) and allowed the Wolverines to move one step closer to clinching the regular season title. 

UVU freshman Ben Aird led all scorers with 19 points and it was his final bucket – a dunk with 18 seconds remaining – that decided a contest that at times was more like a roller coaster ride than a basketball game.

“That was another great college basketball game between two equally-matched teams,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “They just happened to make one more play than we did tonight, but we will take a lot more positives than negatives out of this one.

“Our guys played hard and we showed a lot of resiliency and character to give ourselves a chance to win it there at the end and, again, that is all you can really ask for on the road.”

It was the visiting Sioux that raced out of the gates, scoring the first nine points of the contest and taking a 12-1 advantage before UVU hit its first field goal of the game more than six minutes into the contest.

The Wolverines would slowly chip away at the deficit over the remainder of the half as the Sioux cooled off from the floor and turned the ball over 10 times. Six of those turnovers were offensive fouls called on UND for moving screens.

Aird would eventually tie things up at 27-27 with just his third 3-pointer of the season and senior Shawn Deadwiler's only basket of the game with 27 seconds left in the opening half gave UVU its first advantage of the contest.

The reserve guard's driving layup made it a 29-27 contest at the half and the home team would build on that momentum in the opening nine minutes of the second half.

Freshman Holton Hunsaker sparked a 13-4 run with a four-point play that pushed UVU's lead to 49-39 with 10:40 to play.

The Sioux would not wilt though, returning the favor with a 14-4 run of their own that tied things up at 53-53 with just under six minutes to play.

UND freshmen Josh Schuler (Urbana, Ohio) and Jamal Webb (Buffalo, N.Y.) ignited the rally, as the duo combined for 24 second-half points.

Webb's baseline layup evened things up and he scored eight of the next 10 points for UND to put the visitors back in the lead at 63-58 advantage with just 3:30 to play.

The Wolverines quickly reeled off five straight points of their own to square things up again for the sixth time in the game. Hunsaker's third 3-pointer of the half with just over two minutes to play made it 63-63.

After freshman Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) made one of two free throws at the 1:48 mark, the teams exchanged misses before Geddes Robinson found a wide-open Aird in the paint for the go-ahead dunk after the UND defense collapsed on him.

The Sioux had a chance after Schuler was fouled on a drive to the basket with five seconds to play, but the redshirt freshman was unable to convert either of his free throws and UVU leading scorer Isaiah Williams made both of his freebies after being fouled by Webb to give UVU a three-point cushion with only three ticks remaining.

Mitchell got a decent look to from the top of the key, but his off-balanced attempt missed to the right as the final buzzer sounded. UVU avenged being swept by the Sioux a season ago.

Huff was the third Sioux player to reach double figures as he added 10 points in the contest. 

Hunsaker scored all 15 of his points in the second half for UVU, while Williams, the team's top scorer was held to only nine points.

Webb and Mitchell both had six rebounds to pace the Sioux, who held a 36-32 advantage on the glass. UND turned it over only twice in the second half.