Men's Basketball 11/24/2009 10:00:00 PM Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

Sioux earn trip into win column, crush Waldorf 79-55

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota men's basketball team defeated Waldorf College, 79-55, to pick up its first win of the season on Tuesday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The victory snapped a four-game skid to begin the season for the Sioux (1-4).

Senior Travis Mertens (Devils Lake, N.D.) led a quartet of Sioux players in double figures as he equaled his career-high with 16 points. Junior post Derek Benter (Crosby, N.D.) scored the first five points of the game for UND and finished with 11 points to also equal his career high.

Redshirt freshmen Nick Haugen (Rockford, Minn.) and Spencer Goodman (Jackson, Mo.) posted season-highs of 15 and 13 points, respectively, as well for the Sioux. Haugen nearly had a perfect shooting night going 4-for-5 from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers and adding a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line. Goodman connected went 5-for-9 from the field.

The Sioux also improved immensely in a pair of categories that plagued the team in its first four contests – turnovers and free throw shooting. UND made only 11 miscues in the game, while the defense forced the Warriors into 22. At the free throw line, the Sioux converted 20-of-26 freebies (76.9 percent).

“We needed to improve in a number of areas to get a win and we were able to do that tonight,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “We wanted to take better care of the basketball and convert on some of those missed opportunities we gave away in previous games. It feels good to get this one out of the way and give our guys some confidence.”

Haugen's efforts helped UND shoot a season-high 51 percent from the field and finish with a season-high 79 points.

Leading by just five points at the break, UND went on a 15-5 run midway through the second half to take control of the contest. Haugen had 12 of his 15 points after the break as the Sioux shot 58.3 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

Sophomore Mike Mathison (Walhalla, N.D.) scored the final four points of the game to cap the scoring and give the Sioux their 24-point margin of victory. He finished with a season-high seven points and four rebounds.

Mertens, Haugen and redshirt freshman Jordan Allard (Fargo, N.D.) each had five rebounds to help give UND a 31-28 advantage on the glass.

Waldorf's first six field goals were all 3-pointers as seniors Chris Holloway and Jeff Stenstrud each connected on a trio to keep the Warriors close throughout the first half. Eight of the visitor's nine first-half field goals were from deep (8-for-15, 53.3 percent).

UND built a 15-8 advantage early in the first half, but Waldorf answered with a 9-2 run midway through it to even things up at 17. Waldorf held a five-point advantage at 26-21 with 6:31 to play, but the Sioux responded with a 13-0 run over the next five minutes to regain momentum.

Benter capped that run with his second 3-pointer of the half as he and Mertens had eight points a piece in first 20 minutes to pace the Sioux.

Holloway's fourth trey of the half snapped that five-minute scoring drought for Waldorf and cut its deficit at the break to 34-29.

Holloway led all scorers with 20 points and Stensrud added 14 points for the Warriors (2-3).

The Sioux return to 'The Betty' on Friday afternoon for a tilt against former North Central Conference rival Northern Colorado at 1 p.m. UND also plays a home game on Sunday afternoon against Green Bay at 4 p.m.

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