GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- North Dakota found a way once again to protect its home field, registering a 13-3 victory over Stony Brook in the team's final non-conference tune-up Saturday at the Alerus Center. It was a defensive slugfest for the entire 60 minutes, but it was UND (2-2) that made the key plays in the second half to preserve the win over the Seawolves (1-3).

"It was an oustanding effort by our guys," UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. "The grit and the guts they showed was impressive. How can you not be proud of the guys after the effort they put forth?"

Holding onto a 6-3 lead late the third quarter, the Seawolves had moved the ball down to the UND 7-yard line and were facing a second-and-goal when senior Alex Tillman made the most emphatic of those key plays for the home team's defense. The Houston transfer stepped in front of a John Kinder pass and took UND's first interception of the season back 92 yards for a touchdown.

The extra-point would make the score 13-3, but the Stony Brook defense would not let that lead get any bigger en route to limiting UND to only five first downs and 145 yards of total offense for the game.

Fortunately for the home team, the Green and White defenders stood even taller down the stretch. The Seawolves moved the ball into UND territory on its next two drives after Tillman's pick, but each time failed to score.

Senior Baylee Carr forced a fumble on a third-and-long that teammate Dayo Idowu recovered. Then, after another three-and-out by the offense, linebackers Taj Rich and Garrett Reineke stuffed a 4th-and-2 attempt by SBU on the opening play of the fourth quarter to once keep the Seawolves at bay.

Rich finished with a career-high and UND Division I single-game record 19 total tackles as he and fellow inside linebacker Will Ratelle combined for 33 stops in the game. Ratelle set a career-high for the third time this season with 14 stops, while the UND defense had seven sacks and 16 tackles for a loss in the contest.

Stony Brook would not get past midfield again and Idowu would put a stamp on the defensive effort by forcing a fumble and recovering it with less than a minute to play.

Even though the UND offense could not find much traction in the contest, the unit did provide some fireworks in the second quarter when sophomore Joe Mollberg found freshman Dev Ferguson on a 68-yard scoring strike. The touchdown came after Tillman had muffed a punt, setting up SBU on the UND 22-yard line. The defense did not break though, forcing a 36-yard field goal attempt by Graham Ball that was good for the first points of the game.

Converted linebacker Kyle Norberg got UND's scoring drive started with a 4-yard rush, then on 2nd-and-6 from his own 32-yard line, Mollberg threw a high-arching pass right into the arms of Ferguson, who broke through a shoe-string tackle attempt and raced into the end zone for his first collegiate score.

Norberg got the start at running back, but was held in check for most of the evening finishing with 53 net yards on 27 carries. He was playing linebacker up until two weeks ago, but made the switch prior to the Missouri State game where he rushed five times for 24 yards.

Ferguson's touchdown grab equaled the team's offensive output from its opening 18 plays and it would end up being the second and final completion of the game for Mollberg. He only attempted seven passes  as the Seawolves yielded only six yards of offense to UND in the closing 30 minutes.

SBU managed only 49 rushing yards on 46 attempts in the contest and got a majority of its 221 yards of total offense through the air (172). Tight end Will Tye had 103 of those receiving yards on a game-high five receptions.

UND will open Big Sky play next Saturday at Montana State. Kickoff from Bozeman is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.

Game Notes: Captains for the game were seniors Dwayne Pecosky and Alex Tillman along with juniors Brandon Anderson and Will Ratelle … Tillman's 92-yard interception return for a touchdown is the longest in UND Division I era and longest since Kelly Howe had a 97-yard return down to the 1-yard line against Mankato State in 1998 … UND is now 2-0 all-time against Stony Brook and has run an interception back for a touchdown in both contests (Dominique Hawkins; 35 yards in 2009) … With two more fumble recoveries, UND now has eight total on the season … Sophomore Taj Rich had a career-high and UND Division I single-game record 19 total tackles … UND had 18 tackles for a loss combined in the first three games of the season, while the unit had 16 in this contest … Freshman Dev Ferguson's 68-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was the longest completion and play of the season for the UND offense ... Redshirt freshman Cole Reyes had eight tackles, including five solo stops in his return to action after missing the last two games with an injury.

-- UND --