BOCA RATON, FLA. – Florida Atlantic (3-2) buried 15 shots from downtown and won the points in the paint battle by a 38-20 margin, to defeat North Dakota (2-2) 98-79, in men's basketball action at the Paradise Classic on Saturday night.

Caleb Nero battled the entire contest and finished with a career-high 23 points, while knocking down a career best five makes from three-point land. Nero also hauled in a team-leading six rebounds.

Matt Norman and Paul Bruns were the next most productive scorers for the green and white with 11 points apiece. Norman knocked down three shots from downtown, followed by Bruns with two while also pulling down four boards.

Brendan Howard netted 10 points and three rebounds, with eight of his points coming before halftime.

Tsotne Tsartsidze poured in a career best nine points, while also corralling four rebounds.

Reid Grant dished out a team-high five assists and had the lone block for UND.

The Fighting Hawks trailed 45-42 at the break, but quickly saw that deficit swell to 11, giving up a 10-2 run to open the second half. The margin increased to 16 shortly after, with FAU burying five triples in the first five minutes of the second half.

The deficit hovered around the 12-point mark midway through the second half and ballooned to 19 by the under-eight media timeout with FAU leading 78-59 with 7:27 left in the contest.

UND trimmed the deficit back down to 13 (86-73) after Nero chipped in eight consecutive points between the 7:27 and 3:26 mark of the second half. Unfortunately, the final possession for the Owls was another make from beyond the arc, capping a 12-6 run to conclude the game.

In the contest, North Dakota shot 48.2 percent overall, including 14 makes from three-point land. Comparatively, Florida Atlantic finished at 54.7 percent from the field to go with 15 made triples.

The game saw 10 lead changes and six ties. FAU held a 37-32 edge in bench scoring, while forcing 13 UND turnovers for 14 points. In return, the Fighting Hawks forced six Owl turnovers and exchanged them for 13 points.

The game started with Florida Atlantic up 7-0, but an 8-3 run from North Dakota shortly after cut the deficit to 10-8 by the first media timeout. The Hawk run began with a make from downtown from Norman and was followed by a Nero jumper and a triple.

The score was tied at 12-12 with 12:04 before halftime and the Owls reclaimed the lead at 24-17 shortly after, making five shots from beyond the arc in the first eight minutes.

North Dakota reclaimed the lead at 38-33, with the Hawks burying six triples, highlighted by a make from Paul Bruns, in which he was fouled and made the and one to even the game up at 29 with 5:05 left before halftime. Next, Nero hit back-to-back three's and Norman added another from downtown to put UND up at 38-33 with 2:30 before halftime.

Florida Atlantic finished the half on a 12-4 run, including a steal and fastbreak layup as time expired to head into the locker rooms with a 45-42 edge. At intermission, North Dakota was shooting 53.3 percent from the field, compared to Florida Atlantic hitting 48.4 percent of its shots. Nero led the Hawks with 11 points at the break, followed by Howard adding eight.

North Dakota will conclude its stay at the Paradise Classic on Sunday, battling Tennessee-Martin at 1 p.m. (CT) to finish the stay in Boca Raton, Fla.