CARBONDALE, Ill. (NDSU Athletics) – The North Dakota State men’s basketball team lost 76-63 at Southern Illinois on Tuesday night in the final non-conference game before the holiday break.

The game was tied 21-21 with just over seven minutes left in the first half before the Salukis rattled off a 10-0 run. SIU led 42-31 at halftime.

NDSU cut the deficit to seven at 60-53 with eight minutes remaining, but SIU’s Trent Brown drained three-pointers on the next two possessions to extend the advantage for the Salukis.

Senior Boden Skunberg led NDSU with 19 points. Redshirt freshman Noah Feddersen added 10 points for the Bison.

SIU’s Xavier Johnson topped all players with 25 points.

NDSU dropped to 7-6 on the season. SIU improved to 7-4.

The Bison shot 49 percent for the game, but made just 1-of-13 from three-point range and allowed the Salukis to shoot just under 55 percent overall.

The Bison will play next on Dec. 29, when they host South Dakota inside the Scheels Center to open Summit League play.