CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Junior Quinton Hooker equaled his career-high with 28 points to lead North Dakota to an 88-72 victory over Southern Utah Saturday in Big Sky men's basketball action. Hooker had 20 of those points in the second half as the Fighting Hawks (10-9, 5-3 Big Sky) picked up their first league road sweep since the end of the 2012-13 season.

Sophomore Drick Bernstine finished with his second double-double in a row, scoring 12 points and pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds, while freshmen Conner Avants and Geno Crandall added 13 points apiece. Classmate Cortez Seales rounded out UND's five double-figure scorers with 11 points.

UND, who came in as the worst free throw shooting team in the league, went 27-for-30 from the stripe to shoot a season-best 90 percent, while the Thunderbirds, who came in as the league's best in that category, made only 16-of-25 for 64 percent.

“We got out of the gates quick and I thought that was important,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “We were dialed in on the defensive end and really shared the ball well in the first half. We knew they would not go away and made a run at us, but I thought once they trimmed it down to 10, our guys refocused and were able to put the game away.”

SUU led early 8-5, but UND would use a 13-0 run and made six straight field goals during that spurt to pull ahead by 10 and take control of the game.

Trey Kennedy, who led the T-Birds with 17 points, trimmed SUU's deficit down to 22-15 with a 3-pointer at the 9:39 mark, but the Fighting Hawks would outscore SUU 21-6 the rest of the half, including a 12-0 run to close it.

That closing spurt would allow UND to take a 43-21 lead at the break as Crandall and Avants each had nine points in those opening 20 minutes that saw UND shoot 57 percent from the floor and go 9-for-11 from the foul stripe.

The T-Birds were the team that came out recharged after halftime, cutting the 22-point deficit in half in the opening eight minutes, but Hooker and company would not allow them to get within single digits after the break.

The home team would get within 10 on a 3-pointer by Travon Langston with just over six minutes to play, but the Fighting Hawks would answer with a 10-2 run to end any thoughts of an SUU comeback.

Bernstine's career day on the glass helped UND hold a 38-27 edge in that category. UND has shot 50 percent or better in its five Big Sky wins, including a 54-percent clip in this contest.

UND will play only once next week as it travels to Northern Colorado for a Saturday evening tilt in Greeley. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. CT.

-- UND --