GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota (3-5) only trailed for a total of nine seconds in a 72-55 victory over Presentation inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Tuesday night. The game counted for the Hawks but went in as an exhibition for the Saints.
Caleb Nero poured in a team-high 18 and led the team in assists with four, while pulling down six boards.
Paul Bruns earned his first collegiate start and did not disappoint, knocking down five shots for 15 points and recording one of the three blocks for UND on the night. Bruns also netted three triples in the contest.
Bentiu Panoam was the third player for North Dakota in double digits with 11 points to go with three assists and two boards, also knocking down three shots from deep.
Mitchell Sueker just missed out on double figures with nine points, while adding four rebounds.
Tsotne Tsartsidze rounded out the starting five, pacing the team with two blocks to go with six points and three rebounds.
Jeremiah Gilyard was the top scorer for PC with 12 points. Maximo Guillermo cleaned the glass with a team leading 11 rebounds.
In the game, North Dakota forced 16 turnovers and only lost the ball on eight occasions. UND held a 15-8 advantage in points off turnovers and outrebounded PC 42-38. The Fighting Hawks finished the night shooting at a clip of 38.7 percent and 70.0 percent from the charity stripe, while knocking down 10 triples. The Saints hit their shots at 39.3 percent and went 2-for-6 at the line while making nine three-pointers.
North Dakota won the opening tip and quickly built a 9-0 lead after made jumpers from Sueker, Nero, a triple from Panoam and a Tsartsidze layup. Presentation did not hit its first shot until after the media timeout when Gilyard knocked down a three. The teams then started trading buckets until the Saints cut the lead to two at 14-12 but a Panoam make from beyond the arc pushed the lead back to 17-12 midway through the first period.
Following the Bentiu make, the teams continued trading buckets and North Dakota led 19-17 with 8:44 left in the opening half. UND trailed for the first time of the game at the 7:03 mark after a Denzel McDuffey layup and a Justin Steed triple gave the Saints their first lead of the game at 20-19. Bruns responded immediately with a three of his own to put the Hawks back on top at 22-20. The game was knotted up briefly at 22-22, but Sueker and Bruns added shots from downtown to increase the lead to three at 28-25 with 3:59 left in the first half. After an 8-0 UND run, the Hawks headed into the break leading 33-25.
In the second half, Presentation managed to trim the lead down to seven at 35-28 but was never able to get closer than 10 points after that. By the under-eight media timeout, North Dakota saw its lead increase to 13 at 56-43. North Dakota then went 5-for-6 at the charity stripe over the next two minutes to go up 18 (61-43).
The Hawks had their biggest lead of the game at 69-48 after a 6-0 run that included makes from Sueker, Bruns and Nero. In the final two minutes the Saints had a pair of makes to trim the deficit to 17 but it was not enough and UND won by a final tally of 72-55.
North Dakota will now travel to California to face San Jose State on Friday, with the opening tip slated for 9 p.m. (CT).
