FARGO -- For all of Eric Carlson's career-high 32 points beaming up on the scoreboard, it was the junior forward's catapult alley-oop to Michael Tveidt that made the difference Saturday.
Well, that and Tveidt's all-in-one-motion catch and release that ripped through the twine with about a second on the clock in double overtime.
In any event, the last-second play secured the Bison's 89-88 Summit League win against the University of Missouri-Kansas City before 3,377 fans at Bison Sports Arena.
"As they are coming out of the huddle, Tveidt says to Carlson, 'I'll make this. Just throw it up there, I'm gonna make this,' " NDSU coach Saul Phillips said. "It was his Jimmy Chitwood moment."
The final play unraveled in slow motion.
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Carlson, who had pounded the Kangaroos in the paint to become the first Bison player to score 30 points since Ben Woodside did it against Kansas in the 2009 NCAA tournament, took the ball from the referee with 2.6 seconds on the clock.
He let Tveidt curl around to the back side before firing a perfect lob into the air.
Tveidt caught the pass in mid-air and tossed it into the hoop to put NDSU ahead 89-88.
The same play was run with less-than-perfect results two days earlier in practice.
"That is a tough pass to make," Tveidt said. "He messed it up this week in practice, but this one was perfect."
"It was so ugly that I pronounced that he should never throw another lob in his career," Phillips added. "I guess I'll reconsider."
The play was set up by another perfect pass: This one from Tveidt to Carlson from the far baseline across midcourt.
In Phillips' estimation, Tveidt's pass saved valuable seconds that helped set up the winning play.
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The Bison held an 87-85 lead with 9.2 seconds remaining in the second overtime.
Bakari Lewis, fouled by Mike Felt on a 3-point attempt, hit three free throws to put the Kangaroos ahead 88-87.
Fans stormed the court to swarm the players and coaches when the final buzzer sounded. Phillips said it was the first time he's seen such a scene at the BSA in his time at NDSU.
"I had a pretty good inkling there, too," Kangaroos coach Matt Brown said of the final play. "Unfortunately, our guys didn't communicate the way we were hoping there, too. That's what I would have done, too. ... I would have gone to (Tveidt) too down the stretch."
Tveidt finished with 23 points and six rebounds.
Jay Couisnard had 28 for UMKC.
"Fans were treated to something terrific," Phillips said. "You talk about reality TV, you talk about "Jersey Shore." This is Reality TV. This is real life. This is a real life soap opera playing out in front of you."
