RIVERSIDE, Calif. – North Dakota had momentum at intermission after a made layup from Bentiu Panoam at the buzzer to trim the deficit to 40-34, but hot shooting (58.1 percent) from California Baptist (8-1) was too much for North Dakota to overcome in the 89-71 decision inside the CBU Events Center on Tuesday night.

Paul Bruns led UND (3-7) with a new season high of 19 points, including a season-best four made three-pointers.

Mitchell Sueker was next in scoring for the Kelly green and white with 13 points to go with a team best five rebounds. Sueker and Matt Norman paced the team with four assists apiece, while Norman added four points off the bench.

Panoam started at point guard and poured in 12 points and dished out three assists.

Brian Mathews battled all night and had the first three dunks of his collegiate career to finish with a season-high six points to go with the lone UND block and four rebounds. Tsotne Tsartsidze also finished the night with six points.

In the game, California Baptist did most of their damage in the paint, finishing with a 56-28 advantage. The Lancers also won the statistical category of points off turnovers, 18-9. North Dakota shot 43.1 percent and California Baptist hit 58.1 percent of its total shots. The Fighting Hawks also went 20-for-23 at the charity stripe for a percentage of 87.0.

UND only trailed by six at intermission, but CBU opened the second half on a 13-4 run to push the deficit to 15 at 53-38 less than five minutes into the second half. California Baptist increased its lead to 59-40 less than two minutes later and never took its foot off the gas pedal, leading by as many as 27 (72-45) midway through the half. In total, the Lancers shot a sizzling 61.3 percent in the second half, compared to the Hawks hitting 45.5 percent of their shots in the half.

The two teams traded buckets to start the game and the Hawk defense held the Lancers scoreless for two and a half minutes before Panoam buried a triple to give the Hawks the 7-5 lead just under five minutes into the game.

California Baptist went on a 13-3 run over the next two minutes to jump out to a 15-7 lead and North Dakota went scoreless for over three minutes. Following the drought, the Hawks used an 8-0 run in under the next two minutes to trim the deficit down to 20-18 with 8:55 left in the half.

Both teams then played tough defensively and CBU continued to lead 27-24 with 5:16 left in the opening period. California Baptist then used a 9-1 run to go up 36-25. Shortly after that, Bruns made a shot from beyond the arc and was fouled, making the and-one free throw to trim the deficit down to 38-31 with just over a minute left in the half.

The Lancers added another bucket before the break, but it was the Fighting Hawks heading into the locker rooms with momentum after an Ethan Igbanugo made free throw and then a CBU turnover that found the hands of Panoam, who then knocked down a layup as time expired to cut the deficit down to six at 40-34.

Bruns led the team at intermission with 10 points, including two makes from deep. Panoam was next in scoring for UND with seven. North Dakota had a shooting percentage of 41.4 at the half, while California Baptist hit 54.8 percent of its shots in the opening 20 minutes.

North Dakota will now return home and turn its attention to Eastern Washington. The Hawks and Eagles will tip-off inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center at 1 p.m. (CT) this Saturday.