OGDEN, Utah -- Junior Quinton Hooker scored 23 points, but Weber State's two main cogs would combat that effort and propel the Wildcats to a 74-62 victory over North Dakota Thursday at the Dee Events Center.
Senior Joel Bolomboy finished with 20 points and 23 rebounds to register his NCAA-leading 14th double-double of the season and junior Jeremy Senglin added a game-high 26 points to pace the Wildcats (10-5, 2-0 BSC).
The win was the eighth straight for Weber State over UND (6-8, 1-2 BSC), who has yet to beat the Wildcats since joining the Big Sky.
"As the game wore on, we were able to establish ourselves," UND head coach Brian Jones said. "I thought we showed a lot of character to get back in it there in the second half. We just needed to make one more play."
Weber State built its double-digit lead at the break on the strength of 51 percent shooting from floor, while holding the visitors to just a 32.1 percent clip before halftime.
After Conner Avants trimmed UND's deficit to 11-8 with a 3-pointer from the right wing, the Wildcats would use a 15-4 run over the next eight minutes to push their lead to 26-12.
UND did go 10-for-13 from the foul line to keep things within reach after falling behind by as many as 19 points. Hooker buried all seven of his free-throw attempts and had 13 points to lead UND.
Bolomboy and Senglin did their part in those opening 20 minutes, however, scoring 11 and 12 points, respectively.
Bolomboy, who had 13 double-doubles in Weber State's first 14 games, nearly had one by halftime by adding eight rebounds.
UND would get the final two baskets of the half, including a runner by Adam McDermott at the buzzer, which capped an 11-4 run over the final four minutes.
The Fighting Hawks would keep that momentum early in the second half to close within six at 45-39 thanks to a 10-4 run.
Carson Shanks had three-consecutive field goals during that opening spurt, but Bolomboy and Senglin would not let UND get any closer.
UND would make another little run late to close within eight at 62-54 with five minutes to go, but Bolomboy would any thoughts of a late comeback with a dunk that he turned into a 3-point play.
Avants and redshirt freshman Geno Crandall finished with nine points each for the visitors.
The Fighting Hawks will wrap up their first Big Sky road swing on Saturday night at Idaho State. Tip-off against the Bengals is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. CT.
-- UND --
