MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho held off a late rally by North Dakota to fend off the Fighting Hawks by a point, posting a 65-64 victory Saturday in Big Sky men's basketball action.

After a tight game throughout, the Vandals (16-10, 8-5 BSC) built a seven-point lead late after making their final eight field goals, but UND (12-12, 7-6 BSC) would not make things easy on the home team.

“I thought our guys battled back and showed their character late by having a chance at the end,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “Unfortunately, you don't always win when you play well, but give them credit. Idaho is a good defensive team and did just enough to get this win.”

Idaho's advantage nearly vanished in the closing minute after Quinton Hooker hit a 3-pointer and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to pull the visitors within a point.

 

Idaho senior Chris Sarbaugh was quickly fouled, but missed both free throws with 5.8 seconds left on the clock, setting up a dramatic ending. 

UND's Drick Bernstine grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball up the court, finding Josh Collins on the right wing, but the freshman's runner at the buzzer went just strong off the glass.

 

Bernstine finished with his eighth double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior Corey Baldwin also added 15 for the visitors.

Nahshon George and Chad Sherwood, who hit two big second-half 3-pointers, led the Vandals with 11 points apiece. George had seven rebounds and helped Idaho control the glass with a 40-23 advantage.

The Vandals hot finish from the floor allowed them to shoot 51.1 percent for the game after struggling early. UND would finish with a 40.7 percent clip, but went just 6-for-21 from beyond the arc and 15-for-25 from the foul line. 

Idaho could have put the game away from the charity stripe, but went just 14-for-23 and missed four in the closing 30 seconds.

The Fighting Hawks opened the game on a 9-1 run and the Vandals had six turnovers before they made their first field goal nearly six minutes into the contest. The eight-point spread would be the largest of the half for UND, who went cold down the stretch, allowing Idaho to get back in the game.

After Baldwin hit his second 3-pointer to give UND an 18-10 advantage with 7:18 to play, the Fighting Hawks would make only two more field goals the rest of the first half.

Nate Sherwood capped a 12-2 run with a two-handed dunk that gave Idaho its first lead of the game at 22-20 with 1:20 remaining.

Hooker would square the game back at 22-22 before halftime with his first points of the stanza and mark the first time this season UND would go into halftime all tied up.

Hooker finished the game with eight points and saw a streak of 28-straight double-figure scoring games snapped. Freshman Geno Crandall and sophomore Carson Shanks added 10 points each to give UND four double-figure scorers.

UND opens a three-game Big Sky homestand next Saturday against Northern Colorado. Tip-off against the Bears is set for 2:05 p.m. CT.

-- UND --