Men's Basketball 2/25/2010 10:00:00 PM Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

Sioux fall on the road at Chicago State in Great West play

CHICAGO – The University of North Dakota men's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak in Great West play come to close on Thursday as the Fighting Sioux dropped a 71-61 decision to Chicago State.

UND senior Travis Bledsoe (Minneapolis, Minn.) led all scorers with 24 points on 6-of-12 shooting from 3-point range, but Chicago State's Kabangu Kasamba had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Cougars (8-20, 3-7 GWC).

For Bledsoe, it was his seventh 20-point plus scoring game in league action, but the Sioux (8-19, 5-4 GWC) could not overcome a strong game by Kasamba, who was held scoreless in the first meeting between the two teams. Chicago State evened the season series with the win.

“We had our chances and that is all you can ask for when you go on the road,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “There were some shots we missed late that we would like to have back, but give them credit, they are tough to beat at home.”

Junior Derek Benter pulled the game even at 49-49 with 6:57 to play with his second consecutive 3-point play, but the Cougars answered that 6-0 run by the Sioux with a 7-0 run of their own to take control of the contest.

The Cougars made 10 straight free throws in the closing two minutes to seal the win as they finished 27-for-32 for the game (84.4 percent). The Sioux went 14-for-19 from the stripe, but the rest of the team went just 3-for-14 from beyond the arc as they could never get over the hump in this one.

Chicago State opened the game on a 9-0 run as the Sioux missed their first five shots from the floor before senior Travis Mertens (Devils Lake, N.D.) hit a jumper just over five minutes into the contest.

The Cougars would lead by as many as 10, but Bledsoe warmed up from beyond the arc after missing his first two from that territory to bring the Sioux all the way back.

His third trey of the half gave UND its first and only advantage at 20-18, but the Cougars would come right back and build a five-point advantage at the break. Christian Wall knocked down three big free throws in the closing seconds after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to make the lead 30-25 for the home team.

Bledsoe scored all 12 of his first-half points from deep as he went 4-for-7, while the rest of his Sioux teammates struggled, making just 1-of-9 from there.

Chicago State dominated the glass in the opening 20 minutes, holding 24-16 edge and finished the game with a 40-26 advantage. Junior Carl Montgomery finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars, who had 14 offensive boards.

Mertens joined Bledsoe in double figures with 10 points. Sophomore Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa), who was held scoreless in the first half, went for eight in the second half. Redshirt freshman Jordan Allard led UND on the glass with seven boards.

The Sioux will remain on the road for one more Great West contest in the regular season as they are scheduled to play New Jersey Institute of Technology on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. UND knocked off the Higlanders 90-78 in Grand Forks on Tuesday.

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