GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- North Dakota was the one surviving a late rally this time in what has become an ultra-tight series with Northern Colorado of late. Junior Quinton Hooker led all scorers with 26 points and made four clutch free throws late as the Fighting Hawks held on for a 74-73 victory over the Bears in Big Sky men's basketball action.
UND's (13-12, 8-6 BSC) win over the pesky Bears (8-18, 5-9, BSC) snapped a three-game losing streak in the series that has seen the last three games all been decided by a point.
So, it should have come as no surprise that this one came down to the end after UND took control of the game with a 6-0 run to start the second half and built a double-digit lead.
"I knew it was going to come down to the end. That is just the way this series has been lately," UND head coach Brian Jones said. "It was nice to finally get one to go our way."
The Fighting Hawks' fast start to the second half helped them keep a comfortable lead, which hovered around 10 for most of the stanza, until UNC erupted for 20 points in the closing four minutes.
Forward Drick Bernstine, who was held without a field goal for the opening 36 minutes, had three baskets late to help counter the late run by the Bears and finish with nine points.
Both teams went through long field goal droughts in the first half that saw UND jump out to a quick 12-6 lead only to fall behind by eight after going nearly six minutes without a basket.
Jeremy Verhagen, who shared team-high honors for the Bears with 10 points, made it a 25-17 contest in UNC's favor with just over seven minutes to play in the opening half, but that is when the visitors would go cold and UND heated up.
The Fighting Hawks would go on a 16-2 spurt before UNC's Jordan Wilson hit a pull-up jumper with four ticks remaining to make it a 33-29 lead for UND at the break.
"I thought we had some pop, especially on the defensive end early in the game," Jones added. "We forced a lot of turnovers and got some easy baskets that got us going."
UND would force the Bears into a season-high 23 turnovers as Hooker equaled his career-high with five steals in the contest. The 23 turnovers were also the most by a UND opponent, who had forced 21 in a double-overtime win at Bradley in non-conference play.
Hooker added a game-high eight rebounds, but the Bears owned a 37-30 edge on the glass. Seven different players had at least nine points for UNC, who saw Dallas Anglin join Verhagen with a team-best 10 points.
UND remains at home and closes out its Big Sky home schedule next week with games vs. Portland State on Thursday and Sacramento State on Saturday.
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