ST. GEORGE, UTAH – Dixie State overcame a halftime deficit to rally past North Dakota, 74-73, on Wednesday evening from Burns Arena in St. George, Utah.
 
UND (0-2) trailed by as many as 12 with just two minutes to play before cutting the deficit down to three in the final seconds, but the Trailblazers (1-0) held off the visitors at the free throw line to seal the win.
 
Mitchell Sueker, who battled Dixie State in his days at South Dakota School of Mines, looked comfortable in a familiar arena, dropping a game-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. The junior graduate transfer also added eight rebounds, including three on the offensive side.
 
Filip Rebraca also anchored the middle for UND with 15 points and six rebounds, but was limited to just 29 minutes due to foul trouble. The Sombor, Serbia, native fouled out with just under three minutes remaining in the contest for only the second time in his career.
 
Seybian Sims was also impressive in his first start as a Fighting Hawk, becoming the third player to reach double figures with 11 points. The Kirkwood Community College transfer added six boards and a pair of steals while leading the squad with three makes from distance on four tries.
 
Tyree Ihenacho made his collegiate debut and his first start, doing most of his damage at the charity stripe with nine points and matching Sueker's mark of eight rebounds. The point guard also dished out a trio of helpers and swiped a ball.
 
North Dakota improved its shooting from the season opener at Miami, hitting at a .481 clip and holding Dixie State to .458 percent from the field; however, it was the free throw line that proved to be the difference in the contest. UND connected on only 14 of its 25 attempts from the stripe, including a 12-for-20 mark in the second half while the Trailblazers hit 19 of their 27 tries.
 
 It was the newcomers who got North Dakota off to a strong start on both ends of the floor, as Sueker poured in a quick four points followed by a triple from Sims to stake the visitors out to an early 7-6 advantage.
 
UND cranked up the defensive pressure in the opening portion of the contest as well, forcing six Dixie State turnovers through eight minutes, and sparking the Hawks on a 5-0 spurt to build a 14-10 lead at the midway point of the first half.
 
Both teams struggled to get into an offensive rhythm as the half wore on, with turnovers pilling up each way. UND also did a nice job on the defensive end of the floor by holding the Trailblazers without a basket for over five minutes, but couldn't stretch the lead beyond 22-19 with just over three minutes remaining in the period.
 
The Hawks added to their lead in the final moments of the first half when Caleb Nero kicked a perfect pass to Ethan Igbanugo in the corner who drilled the three to send the visitors to the locker room with a 29-24 lead after 20 minutes.
 
After a slow first half, Rebraca came out strong to begin the second. The junior knocked down back-to-back shots on the open two possessions to push the Hawks' advantage to nine, 33-24, in the first 90 seconds of the stanza.
 
The Serbian kept it going for the Hawks, keeping the advantage near nine for a majority of the first eight minutes of the second half; however, Dixie State started to rally. The Trailblazers hit eight of their next nine shots to trim the deficit down to just one, 42-41, before a Sueker layup halted the run with just over 12 to go in the contest.
 
Dixie State kept riding the momentum through the middle portion of the second half, eventually taking a 53-50 lead following a three-point play with just over nine minutes to play. The Trailblazers extended the lead to five thanks to the charity stripe, where the hosts hit five of their first eight, at the under-8 media timeout.
 
The run grew to 15-3 over a five-minute span for the hosts, extending the advantage to a game-high 10 with just over five minutes to play in the game.
 
One of the nation's top free throw shooting teams a season ago, the charity stripe was not kind to the Fighting Hawks in the contest. UND connected on only seven of its first 17 attempts from the line before Ihenacho sank a pair to cut the lead to seven, 62-55, with 3:55 to play.
 
Trailing by 12 with two minutes to play, UND started to chip away. Back-to-back triples by Sims and Sueker trimmed the lead down just six, 70-64, with 1:06 remaining before a Nero steal and layup cut it to four and forced a Dixie State timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, Ihenacho played strong defense to force an offensive foul and turnover to give the ball back to the Hawks with 48.3 on the clock. Brady Danielson had an open look from three, but his shot just rimmed out and allowed Dixie State to melt the game away at the line.
 
North Dakota returns to action on Friday evening for a showdown against Minnesota at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network from Williams Arena.
 
For more news on UND men's basketball, visit FightingHawks.com. Follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @UNDmbasketball.
 
NOTES: Wednesday marked the first collegiate starts for Caleb Nero, Seybian Sims and Tyree Ihenacho … De'Sean Allen-Eikens was unavailable for tonight's game due to an injury … UND won the rebounding battle, 38-37, for the second straight game … Dixie State forced 18 UND turnovers while committing 14 of its own … The Hawks hit seven threes for the second straight game … Brady Danielson also fouled out.