Junior guard Tyson Ward came up with clutch points down the stretch as North Dakota State recovered to defeat North Carolina Central 78-74 in the NCAA Tournament's First Four on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio.

The Bison had watched a 13-point lead vanish before rallying for the win.

Ward made a free throw at the 1:41 mark to break a tie, scored on a drive on the next possession and then hit a jumper for a 75-70 lead with less than a minute to play.

North Dakota State (19-15), which posted a victory for just the second time in NCAA Tournament play, meets top-seeded Duke in an East Region first-round game Friday night at Columbia, S.C. If NC Central had won, it would have been a matchup of two teams from Durham, N.C.

Larry McKnight Jr.'s third 3-point basket in slightly more than a 2 1/2-minute stretch pushed the Eagles to a 66-61 edge with 5:22 left.

However, the game was tied at 68-68 after Sam Griesel's 3-pointer for the Bison.

After NC Central led 70-68 on McKnight's dunk, the Eagles went more than three minutes without scoring.

Ward ended up with 23 points, Vinnie Shahid poured in 14, including two free throws with 8.5 seconds to play, and Griesel and Jared Samuelson both had 10 points.

For NC Central (18-16), McKnight and Raasean Davis both tallied 20 points, Randy Miller Jr. had 18 points, and Zacarry Douglas notched 14 points. Davis added 16 rebounds.

NC Central dropped a game in the First Four for the third consecutive year. The Eagles fell to 0-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.

North Dakota's 49-36 lead with 16 minutes left was completely wiped out thanks to a run that ended with McKnight's 3-pointer with 7:58 to go. McKnight hit another trey for the lead with seven minutes left.

North Dakota State led 40-34 at halftime and appeared ready to take control with a strong start of the second half.

Both teams made nine 3-point baskets. McKnight went 4-for-6 from long range.

--Field Level Media