GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Sophomore Quinton Hooker was a rebound shy of a triple-double and junior Estan Tyler scored a game-high 19 points as North Dakota registered an 80-69 victory over Idaho State in men's Big Sky basketball action Saturday.
Hooker finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and equaled his career-high with 10 assists to post his second double-double of the season. Hooker and Tyler were joined in double figures by Terrel de Rouen and Jaron Nash, who added 15 and 14 points, respectively as UND (7-13, 3-6 BSC) wiped out its four-game losing skid at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Nnamdi Ezenwa led the Bengals (5-17, 2-8 BSC) with 17 points and Jeffrey Solarin added 12 poitns and a game-high 14 rebounds for the visitors.
"Our guys played with tremendous effort," UND head coach Brian Jones said. "We made the extra pass in the first half and knocked down some open shots. We worked hard prepping for their zone and it was good to see us execute the game plan."
UND broke open a tight game with a 15-4 run to close the first half as the Bengals managed only one field goal and two free throws in the final 7:20. Tyler ignited that run with one of his game-high three 3-pointers as he finished 7-for-9 from the field.
He had 12 first-half points and Hooker had 11, allowing UND to take a 37-26 lead into halftime.
"Q did a great job of controlling the game," Jones added. "His numbers were impressive, but what might get overlooked is the job he did defensively on the perimeter. We held Chris Hansen to seven points and one field goal. Last season, he came in here and made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points."
UND would push its lead to as many as 19 after the break with Nash being the primary catalyst. He sat most of the first half with two fouls, but came out aggressive in the second half, scoring all 14 of his points and adding five rebounds.
He also converted an alley-oop and added another one-handed throw down to help thwart a late rally by the Bengals. ISU got within six thanks to a 18-7 run late in the contest, but got the lead bac to double figures with four straight points to end the Bengals' comeback hopes.
UND finished with its best shooting effort in Big Sky play, knocking down 54 percent of its shots from the field, including a 7-for-19 effort from beyond the arc.
Idaho State only shot 36 percent from the field and leading scorer Chris Hansen was held to seven points on 1-of-10 shooting.
UND returns to the road next Thursday to take on Southern Utah in Big Sky play at 8 p.m. MT.
-- UND --
