SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Summit League Player of the Year Max Abmas scored a game-high 22 points and DeShang Weaver added 18 points off the bench to help No. 4 seed Oral Roberts clip No. 5 seed North Dakota, 76-65, in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament on Sunday evening from the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
 
UND just could not get it going on the offensive end following a 15-day layoff from action, connecting on only 23-of-57 attempts from the field (.404) and just three of its 16 shots from distance (.188) to see its season end at 9-17.
 
ORU, who advances to Monday's semifinal against the top-seed South Dakota State, also struggled for most of the contest from the field, hitting at only a .448 clip, but it was a 19-of-21 mark from the charity stripe and forcing 14 North Dakota turnovers that helped earn the victory.
 
Both teams saw four players reach double figures, but it was a more balanced attack by the Fighting Hawks. Seybian Sims, Bentiu Panoam, Caleb Nero and Mitchell Sueker all scored 11 points in the losing effort, while the Golden Eagles didn't receive any bench points outside of Weaver's 18 and only had 26 points outside of Abmas and Weaver.
 
North Dakota won the rebounding battle, 39-32, led by Filip Rebraca's nine and Sueker's seven. All eight players who saw the floor for the Fighting Hawks grabbed at least one rebound with five grabbing at least three.
 
Rebraca, who entered the contest with 33 straight games scoring in double figures, was held to just eight points in 29 minutes due to an injury in the first half that kept him sidelined for most of that opening frame. It marks the first time since Feb. 8, 2020 that the junior has not had at least 10 points, the longest streak in program history.
 
The rust of not playing a game in 15 days was showing in the early going on the offensive side, with the Fighting Hawks starting the game 0-for-4 from the field and committing four turnovers in the first 4:22 of the contest. Sueker broke the seal with a bucket plus the harm to send UND to the first media timeout down by just three, 6-3.
 
Out of the media timeout, UND started to get it going on both sides of the ball. A Nero triple brought the Hawks within three once again before a Rebraca bucket and a Sueker basket in transition off a slick feed from Panoam put the green and white in front, 11-8, with just over 13 minutes to play in the first half.
 
That was UND's last lead through the next seven minutes, as Abmas poured in 10 points to help the Golden Eagles move back in front by five, 24-19, with 6:06 remaining in the opening stanza. It was Weaver who took over in the final minutes of the half, knocking down all six of his shots to score 14 points and push the advantage to 10, 39-29, heading to the locker room.
 
Both sides couldn't muster much on the offensive end to begin the second half, starting the frame a combined 1-for-14 from the field; however, the charity stripe became a friend for each team. After ORU went up by as many as 13, North Dakota started to chip away. Two free throws from Ethan Igbanugo and back-to-back baskets from Sims and Rebraca cut the lead down to just seven, 52-45, with 10 minutes to go.
 
Oral Roberts extended the lead back to 13, but once again UND did not go down without a fight. The Fighting Hawks trimmed the lead down to six after a Sims triple and Sueker layup, 62-56, but that was as close as they would get, with ORU closing out the 76-65 victory.
 
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