Sluggish first half too much to overcome as Sioux fall to IPFW, 73-52

Men's Basketball Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

Sluggish first half too much to overcome as Sioux fall to IPFW, 73-52

Fort Wayne, Ind. – The University of North Dakota men's basketball team could not overcome a 20-point halftime deficit as IPFW secured a 73-52 victory over the Sioux on Saturday at Memorial Coliseum. Senior Travis Mertens (Devils Lake, N.D.) scored a career-high 19 points for UND (1-10) and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to post his third double-double of the season.

Senior Nick Daniels led IPFW (3-5) with a career-high 19 points as four 'Dons finished in double figures. Junior Antwone Snead also had a career-high with 17 points for the home team.

Mertens went 4-for-6 from the field and junior Chris Clausen (Adelaide, Australia) was 4-for-4 and finished with 11 points, but the rest of the Sioux struggled to get anything going offensively as the team shot just 30.4 percent from the floor.

The shooting woes began early for the Sioux as they made just one of their first 13 field goal attempts in the contest as the Mastadons jumped out to an 18-4 advantage.

“We were getting the shots we wanted, but they were just not going in,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “You dig yourself a hole when you open the game 1-for-13 and we just could not recover. We played hard though and I'm proud of the effort our guys gave. It was a lot better today.”

Mertens snapped the field goal drought as he made back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit back to 10, but the 'Dons would outscore UND 22-12 the rest of the half to build a 20-point advantage at the break.

It looked as though it would be a 23-point deficit, but Clausen knocked down a 3-pointer at the horn to make the score 40-20.

The Dons' 55.6 percent effort from the floor was the difference in the opening half as the home team went 15-for-27 from the field, while the UND managed to shoot just 24.2 percent (8-for-33).

UND opened the second half on a 9-3 run to give the Sioux a little spark, but the Dons' would not let the Sioux get any closer. Ben Botts hit a trio of 3-pointers during a 20-8 run to give IPFW its largest lead of the contest at 63-37. Botts and Daniels both finished the contest with five 3-pointers a piece as the Mastadons connected on 11-of-27 shots from beyond the arc.

Mertens scored 14 of his 19 points after the break, including a 10-14 effort from the foul line. He finished the game with career-highs in makes (11) and attempts (16) from the stripe.

The Sioux will return to action next Saturday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center when Northern Iowa visits Grand Forks. The Panthers are led by former Sioux and UND alum Ben Jacobson. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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Players Mentioned

Chris Clausen

#31 Chris Clausen

G/F
6' 6"
Junior
Travis Mertens

#15 Travis Mertens

F
6' 5"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Chris Clausen

#31 Chris Clausen

6' 6"
Junior
G/F
Travis Mertens

#15 Travis Mertens

6' 5"
Senior
F