Before March Madness, we have February Fisticuffs.
Players and coaches for North Dakota State and Oral Roberts briefly brawled after the Summit League matchup Thursday. North Dakota State’s Maleeck Harden-Hayes — with his team closing out a 77-59 win — stole the ball in the final seconds and dunked it home after the buzzer.
Emotions did not appear high in the handshake line until Oral Roberts coach Paul Mills began yelling at North Dakota State players. Things quickly escalated from there. It does not appear that any punches were thrown, but there was a lot of shoving between the two sides.
Oral Roberts big man Elijah Lufile had to be restrained multiple times as he tried to get back at the North Dakota State players.
“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,” Mills said in statement on Twitter. “[North Dakota State coach] Dave Richman & I have spoken & I have the utmost respect for the Bison program. Congratulations to the Bison on a dominant performance.”
The two teams are battling for second place in the Summit League behind South Dakota State.