BOZEMAN, Mont. – North Dakota had three players finish with 20-plus points and the Fighting Hawks picked up their fourth-straight Big Sky men's basketball victory with a 90-85 win over Montana State Thursday at Worthington Arena.

Senior Quinton Hooker led that trio for UND with a game-high 24 points, while sophomores Geno Crandall and Conner Avants scored 22 and 20 points, respectively. Hooker's fourth-straight, 20-plus point outing moved him into the top 10 on UND's all-time scoring charts (10th; 1,453).

Avants had 18 of his points in the second half as UND (9-6, 4-1 BSC) erased a 42-38 deficit at the break after opening the game on a 7-0 run. Crandall added seven assists and a season-high four steals, while finishing with his second 20-plus point game of the season.

“I thought our guys gutted out a win tonight,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “I thought we got some key stops late in the second half and turned those into easy baskets, which was huge for us. We showed a lot of composure down the stretch and made our free throws.”

Crandall had 15 first-half points and hit a big 3-pointer late in the stanza to trim what had become a seven-point deficit down to four at halftime.  UND opened the game making 9-of-11 from the field, but went cold after that connecting on just 5-of-21 throughout the remainder of the opening 20 minutes.

Montana State's Tyler Hall led four Bobcats in double figures with 23 points and added a game-high 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double, but it was 11 first-half points from Joe Mvuezolo that had Montana State ahead at the half.  

Hall went 10-for-15 from the floor and the Bobcats shot 53.2 percent from the field, but Crandall and company forced the home team into 15 turnovers and finished with 10 steals.

Hall made a layup in the opening two minutes of the second half that gave MSU its largest lead of the game at 50-42, but the Fighting Hawks erased that deficit over the next three minutes with a 10-2 run.

After tying things up at 52-52, UND let Quinton Everett bury back-to-back three's on the Bobcats' next two possessions to push the home team back in front.  

Crandall would lead his team back again, however, capping a 12-6 run with a 3-point play midway through the half to square the game at 64-64.

Senior Corey Baldwin scored UND's next four points and gave the visitors their first lead of the second half at 68-66. The Fighting Hawks would not trail again as they reeled off a game-deciding 11-2 run. Baldwin scored all 12 of his points after halftime and reached double-figures for the fourth-straight game.

Hall pulled the Bobcats within four at 87-83 after burying a triple with just under a minute to play, but Avants would make an easy layup on UND's next possession after a nice feed by Cortez Seales to end any thoughts of a comeback by the home team.

Hooker added a season-high eight rebounds for UND and went 7-for-12 from the field to lead a 50-percent shooting clip for the visitors. He went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and Baldwin also added a pair of treys in the second half.

The Fighting Hawks remain in the Treasure State for one more Big Sky tilt Saturday at Montana. Tip-off against the Griz is set for 8:05 p.m. CT.

-- UND --