GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota defeated Waldorf in exhibition play, 93-48, inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Monday night. Four Fighting Hawks finished in double figures.
Mitchell Sueker was the leading scorer for UND, netting 24 points with 22 of them coming in the first half alone. Sueker finished 9-of-14 from the field, shooting 64.3 percent. He also pulled down four rebounds, led the team with two blocks and added a steal.
Tsotne Tsartsidze was the next most productive scorer for the green and white, pouring in 17 points and corralling six rebounds.
B.J. Omot had his first 23 minutes as a Fighting Hawk and finished with 13 points.
Brian Mathews had the lone double-double of the game, throwing down 12 points and pulling in 10 boards.
Caleb Nero finished just shy of double digits, scoring with eight points while dishing out two assists.
North Dakota shot 48.6 percent from the field, 20.0 percent from deep and 67.7 percent from the charity stripe. Comparatively, Waldorf went 36.7 from the floor, 26.3 from downtown and 50.0 percent from the free throw line.
The Hawks dominated down low, outscoring the Warriors 58-22 in the paint. North Dakota won the points off turnover battle by a 22-0 margin. The UND bench finished with 29 points to WU's 13.
In the game, both teams were tied at 18-18 with 12:53 left in the first half before North Dakota went on a 21-4 run to take a commanding 37-22 lead with 3:32 left in the first half. During that run, Sueker went on an 8-0 run by himself at one point and led the Hawks with 22 points in the opening 20 minutes. North Dakota was on top 44-26 at the break.
In the second half, North Dakota led by as many as 45 points and went on a 25-0 scoring run late in the half. The Fighting Hawks led by at least 20 points the entire half.
Postgame Notes
· Thirteen Fighting Hawks appeared in the game with 11 UND players finding the scoring column.
· B.J. Omot, Elijah Brooks, Treysen Eaglestaff, Jalun Trent, A'Jahni Levias and Daniel Hong received their first unofficial minutes in Fighting Hawk uniforms.
· Matt Norman led UND in assists with three to go with three points.
· Elijah Brooks finished with a game-high three steals to go with six boards and two points.
· North Dakota also won the statistical categories of fast break points (20-3) and second chance points (17-5).
· The game featured six lead changes in the first half and four ties.
· UND led for the final 34:37 of the game.
How It Happened
First Half
15:49 – UND 12, WU 11
11:56 – UND 20, WU 18
6:40 – UND 30, WU 19
3:32 – UND 37, WU 22
0:00 – UND 44, WU 26
Second Half
15:36 – UND 53, WU 33
11:07 – UND 64, WU 44
8:23 – UND 70, WU 46
3:45 – UND 84, WU 46
0:00 – UND 93, WU 48
