GRAND FORKS, N.D. – In a game that felt like an old Big Sky rivalry, it was North Dakota (1-1) coming back and upending Montana (1-2) in the final seconds to win 79-77 inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Monday night.

After a made jumper by Montana in the paint to knot the game up at 77-77 with 30 seconds left, North Dakota took a timeout with 24 seconds left and held on for the last shot of the game. Caleb Nero received the inbounds pass and started towards the left-side of the top of the key with 11 seconds left and found a lane that he quickly drove to the basket to bury the game-winning layup with 3.0 seconds left.

On the drive, Nero was fouled and missed the and-one free throw, which caused Montana to take a three-point shot beyond half court that was off to allow UND the 79-77 victory.

Nero was the hero with 14 points, including going 8-for-9 at the free throw line. His eight makes at the charity stripe is a new career high. He also shared the team-lead in assists with three.

Brendan Howard and Mitchell Sueker shared the team-lead in points with 18 each. Howard, a native of Great Falls, Mont., provided a spark off the bench with his 18 points, including a driving layup in the final seconds of the first half to give UND momentum heading into the locker rooms.

Sueker cleaned the glass with six boards to go with his 18 points, while also dishing out three assists.

Matt Norman and Paul Bruns were just shy of double digits with nine points apiece. Norman finished 3-for-4 from downtown, while Bruns had a team-high three steals to go with his nine points.

Nero's game-winner put the finishing touches on a tremendous comeback for the Fighting Hawks, trailing by 14 (69-55) with 7:54 left in the contest. A 14-5 run for the Fighting Hawks cut the deficit to 73-69 with 3:57 remaining, highlighted by both Bruns and Nero going 4-for-4 each at the charity stripe, two Sueker jumpers and a Nero layup.

North Dakota would take its first lead of the second half at the 74-73 point with 2:55 left. It was the Fighting Hawks' first lead since going up 33-30 with 4:46 left in the first half. UND claimed the lead following a Sueker triple and back-to-back makes from Nero at the charity stripe.

Prior to trailing 69-55, Montana started the half on an 8-2 run and extended its lead to 59-46 at the under-12 media timeout. Before the final eight minutes, North Dakota had cooled to 45.0 percent from the floor (18-for-40).

North Dakota finished at 49.0 percent from the field (24-49) and 47.4 percent beyond the arc (9-19). The Hawks made 22-of-30 free throws, including going 15-17 in the second half. Comparatively, Montana finished 48.0 percent from the floor (24-50), 42.9 percent from deep (6-14) and 23-27 in free throws for 85.2 percent.

The game started with UND up 18-16 midway through the first half and UM trimmed the lead down to 31-30 with 6:27 left in the half. At that point, the green and white were 7-for-8 from downtown with Norman hitting three triples and Howard knocking down back-to-back three's to keep the Hawks up at 24-20 with 9:08 left in the opening half.

Montana built its lead up to as many as six at 42-36 with 1:40 left in the half, but it was North Dakota taking momentum into the locker room shortly after, scoring four points in the final five seconds. It looked as if the Hawks would hold for the last shot, but Howard made a layup with four seconds left and then Brady Danielson intercepted an inbounds pass and made a quick jumper to trim the deficit to 44-42 at the half.

In the first half, both teams had impressive shooting percentages with the Hawks shooting 53.85 percent overall, including 7-for-11 from deep, while the Griz shot 60.0 percent (12-20) from the floor.

For North Dakota, the win ends a nine-game winless streak against Montana, and it is the first win in the series in Grand Forks since a 74-69 victory on Feb. 15, 2014.

The Fighting Hawks will now turn their attention to the Paradise Classic in Boca Raton, Fla. UND will play Troy on Friday at 2 p.m., Florida Atlantic on Saturday at 5 p.m. and UT-Martin on Sunday at 1 p.m. All times listed are central time.