Rome, Italy -- The North Dakota men's basketball team opened its 2015 European Tour with a 71-53 victory over Haukar (Iceland) on Thursday. Junior Quinton Hooker paced UND with 25 points to lead all scorers and freshman Adam McDermott added 13 off the bench in his collegiate debut.

The squads were tied at 32-32 after Corey Baldwin hit a 3-pointer late in a first half that saw Haukar lead by as many as six before UND closed the gap. It remained a back-and-forth affair until late in the third quarter before UND closed the stanza on an 11-1 run.

Freshman Cortez Seales, who finished with seven points, buried a corner 3-pointer to spark the run and Hooker had the next six to put UND up 51-41 going into the fourth quarter.

"I thought for the most part our defense was really, really solid. I was really pleased with that," UND head coach Brian Jones said. "Our energy was great and our unselfishness was great. During the first half, we were a little tight, but it was our first game."

Haukar would struggle from the field in the second half, scoring only 21 points total in the closing two quarters, while UND would get 39 points after halftime.

Sophomore Drick Bernstine added nine points, including two putbacks and Seales finished with seven as they were two of seven new players making their UND debuts.

UND will move on from Rome in the morning and travel to Florence, Italy for game No. 2 against Dream Team Italy Select on Friday.

Scorers: Hooker (25), McDermott (13), Bernstine (9), Seales (7), Conner Avants (4), Dustin Hobaugh (4), Baldwin (3), Bryce Cashman (2), Geno Crandall (2) and Carson Shanks (2).

-- UND --