GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Northern Colorado senior Dominique Lee hit a free throw with 2.6 seconds to play as the Bears held off a furious comeback attempt by North Dakota to post a 72-71 victory in Big Sky play Saturday at the Bank of Colorado Arena.

Lee missed the back end of the trip to the foul line, but Quinton Hooker's contested heave from halfcourt was off the mark, giving the Bears (15-14, 10-8 BSC) their third straight win, while handing UND (8-22, 4-14 BSC) its sixth loss in league play that came down to the closing minute.

“We had to play our tails off in the second half to get back in the game,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “We dug ourselves a hole in the first half because we missed some layups and open shots and they made their layups and hit some rhythm shots.

“Those started to fall for us in the second half and I thought we really defended at a high level to get back in the game.”

Hooker scored a career-high 28 points with 17 of those coming in the second half as the visitors erased a 14-point halftime deficit to make it a frantic final nine minutes.

Junior Estan Tyler added 16 of his 18 points in the second half and Josiah Coleman added 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds off the bench.

Cameron Michael led UNC with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. Senior Tim Huskisson added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

Hooker squared things at 71-71 with 10 seconds to play, but the Bears maintained possession after Corey Spence missed a runner with 2.6 to play. Lee was fouled on the inbounds pass and rattled home the first freebie to seal the win.

The Bears built their 14-point halftime lead on the strength of 65.4 percent shooting from the floor, while holding UND to a 33.3 percent clip.

UNC cooled off in the second half as the home team only shot 33.3 percent from the floor, while UND heated up, knocking down 16-of-30 shots (53.3 percent).

Tyler hit back-to-back treys in the opening minutes of the second half to spark a 10-4 run that brought life back to the Green and White.  

Hooker came up big down the stretch, scoring a 3-point play with 34 seconds to go that brought UND within a point at 70-69.

With the shot clock off, UND was forced to foul quickly and Michael would make one of two free throws on the next trip. Hooker tied with the game with another runner off the glass, but UNC would maintain possession after Corey Spence's missed shot caromed off a UND player with 3.2 seconds to play.

After nearly UND nearly forced a five-second call, Tevin Svihovec forced a pass into Lee underneath the basket, but he collided with Dustin Hobaugh, who was whistled for the late foul.

UNC earned the fifth seed in next week's eight-team Big Sky Tournament with the win. UND's season came to a close with its ninth straight loss.

-- UND --