GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota trailed by 16 late in the first half and battled back to a one possession game with under a minute remaining, but two turnovers in the final minute proved costly as the Fighting Hawks fell 73-68 to Western Illinois inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Thursday night.
Matt Norman led UND (4-14, 0-5 SL) with a career-high 27 points, netting 20 points in the second half alone. Norman finished 10-of-15 shooting, including four trifectas on eight attempts.
Bentiu Panoam was second in scoring for the kelly green and white with a season-high 18 points, while
Tsotne Tsartsidze led the Hawks on the glass with a career-high 13 boards to go with seven points. Tsartsidze also paced the offense with three assists.
Will Carius was the top scorer for WIU (11-6, 2-3 SL), knocking down nine shots (six triples) for 26 points. Colton Sandage and Luke Barisic were also in double figures with 17 and 12 points, respectively.
The Hawks shot 43.1 percent from the field. Comparatively, the Leathernecks finished shooting at 40.9 percent. Western Illinois hit three triples and shot 52.6 percent at the charity stripe (10-of-19), while North Dakota hit six triples and went 63.2 percent (12-of-19) at the line.
Western Illinois played tough defensively and finished with a 22-16 advantage in points off turnovers, including 11 steals in the game to North Dakota's two. UND held the rebounding edge by a 45-40 margin and both teams netted 36 points in the paint.
Despite trailing by 16 before intermission, North Dakota trimmed the deficit to a single possession on two occasions in the second half, including the final minute after Norman went on a 5-0 run to bring the tally to 69-66. Norman brought the Hawks back in the game with two driving layups, including an and-one free throw make.
Unfortunately, two turnovers in the final minute and a 4-0 WIU run put the game out of reach with 2.2 seconds remaining. Panoam scored his ninth point of the second half on a driving layup to bring the Hawks within five, but time expired shortly after to allow the Leathernecks to escape with the 73-68 victory.
North Dakota also trimmed the deficit down to a single possession with 8:15 remaining, after a Norman triple cut the deficit to 52-50. The Leathernecks responded with a 4-0 run shortly after to push their lead back to 56-50 on the next two possessions.
The Hawks trailed 35-25 at intermission, despite closing the opening period on a 5-0 run. Panoam and Norman were the leading scorers in the first 20 minutes for UND with nine and seven points, respectively.
Western Illinois led 18-9 midway through the opening half after an 8-0 run. By the under-four media timeout, WIU had extended its lead to 30-16 before a 9-5 UND run closed the half.
North Dakota will now visit Oral Roberts on Thursday for men's basketball action in Tulsa. Opening tip is slated for 7 p.m. (CT) and the game will be aired on the Home of Economy Radio Network.
