HONOLULU -- Junior Cortez Seales scored a team-high 22 points and classmate Geno Crandall added 20 points to lift North Dakota to an 80-71 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Monday. The Fighting Hawks finished the 53rd-annual classic with a 2-1 record, marking the first time they've won a pair of games in one of these multi-team events at the Division I level.

"We had to come in today and be focused just to get a win. I thought offensively, we played pretty well and got any shot that we wanted," UND head coach Brian Jones said. "I thought our second half was much better. We scored a lot off our defense and that's when we are at our best."

Grad transfer Dale Jones added a career-high 16 points with 11 of those coming in a pivotal stretch of the second half after the Golden Lions had trimmed what had been a 10-point deficit down to a single point. UAPB would never get the lead in this one however as Jones made three of his four treys down the stretch to help push UND's lead to its peak at 19 with just under five minutes to play.

A late flurry by the Golden Eagles got them within single digits again, but they never seriously threatened after digging too big of a defict.

Seales and Crandall combined to go 22-for-25 from the foul line as those efforts helped compensate for just a 36 percent effort from the floor. UND finished 31-for-38 from the chartiy stripe as a team and also turned 24 UAPB turnovers into 30 points.

Seales gave UND a 10-point lead at 17-7 thanks to back-to-back baskets just over eight minutes into the contest. After netting just three field goals in those opening eight minutes, the Golden Lions were much more efficient throughout the remainder of the half and finished shootig 48 percent from the floor.

Sophomore Marlon Stewart provided an impact without scoring. He had three steals and six assists as the Fighting Hawks held onto the lead throughout the opening 20 minutes after turning 12 UAPB turnovers into 18 points.

Martaveous McKnight was instrumental in not allowing the Fighting Hawks to pull away early. He scored 14 first-half points to lead all scorers and went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. McKnight finished with a game-high 30 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor.

UAPB got within a point twice early in the second half, but UND answered with a 5-0 run the first time, then reeled off a game-deciding 13-2 run that the Golden Lions never recovered from.

Crandall reached the 20-point plateau for the third-consecutive game in Honolulu and went 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Seales went 12-for-15 from the charity stripe, setting career-highs in both categories.

Junior Conner Avants added nine points and a game-high eight rebounds as he helped UND hold a 35-31 edge on the glass.

UND returns to the Mainland on Wednesday and will travel to Nebraska this weekend for a Sunday showdown with the Cornhuskers in Lincoln. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

-- UND --