ST. PAUL, Minn. – North Dakota hit 50.0 percent of its shots from deep (14-of-28) and held a 40-26 advantage in rebounds to defeat St. Thomas, 78-70, inside Schoenecker Arena on Thursday night.
Paul Bruns recorded the second double-double of his career with a game-high 22 points and a season-best 14 rebounds to lead UND (6-20, 2-11 SL). Bruns scored the final eight points for the Fighting Hawks, including a basket that ended the 10-0 St. Thomas run to push the North Dakota lead back up to 72-64 with under two minutes left in the contest.
Matt Norman was the next top scorer for NoDak with 12 points, all coming from beyond the arc, to go with a team-high six assists.
Ethan Igbanugo and
Tsotne Tsartsidze finished just outside double figures with nine and eight points, respectively.
Riley Miller was the top scorer for St. Thomas (8-16, 2-10 SL) with 13 points, going 5-of-10 from the field. Anders Nelson finished with 12 points and led the Tommies in rebounds (seven), steals (three) and assists (two). Ryan Lindberg and Parker Bjorklund each added 11 points.
North Dakota shot 49.1 percent from the field, added 14 triples and went 10-of-15 at the charity stripe. St. Thomas hit at 43.3 percent with seven triples and was 11-of-15 at the free throw line. UND held advantages in rebounds (40-26), assists (17-6), bench scoring (25-14), fast break points (10-5) and blocks (4-0). The Tommies finished with a 36-26 advantage in points in the paint and also won the points off turnover battle by a 14-13 margin.
The Fighting Hawks trailed by two at the break but stormed out to a seven-point lead (43-36) three minutes into the second half after a 9-0 run, going 4-of-4 from the field to open the half.
UST managed to trim the deficit down to four at 45-41, before UND responded with a 10-4 run of their own to push the lead up to 10. Moments later, a Bruns triple, followed by a three-pointer from
Caleb Nero increased the Fighting Hawk lead up to 14 (61-47) with 10 minutes remaining in the ball game.
North Dakota led by as many as 17 points (67-50) with 7:05 left. The teams traded baskets before a 10-0 Tommie run cut the gap down to 70-64 with under two minutes left.
Bruns knocked down a jumper on the following possession to end the UST run and then scored the last eight points for the Fighting Hawks to allow UND to leave St. Paul with the 78-70 victory.
At intermission, North Dakota trailed 36-34. Norman was leading the Hawks with nine points, all from three-point land. Lindberg and Brooks Allen shared the team-lead for St. Thomas with six points apiece. UND was shooting 44.4 percent to go with seven trifectas, compared to UST hitting at 56.0 percent with four triples.
The Tommies opened the game on a 7-0 run before the Fighting Hawks came storming back with a 5-0 run of their own. By the midway point, St. Thomas was clinging to a one-point lead at 20-19 following another 5-0 run from North Dakota, highlighted by a
Brian Mathews steal and Bruns layup, with Bruns netting all five points in the run.
Both teams then traded baskets until the score was 29-28 with St. Thomas holding the edge with 6:08 left in the opening stanza. Both teams then went scoreless for over three minutes until a Mathews layup with 3:20 left in the half gave the Fighting Hawks their first lead of the game at 30-29.
The back and forth game in the final minutes of the first half continued, with the lead changing hands a total of three times in the final minutes before the Tommies headed to the break with a 36-34 edge on the scoreboard.
North Dakota will visit Western Illinois on Saturday for the last road contest of the regular season. The Fighting Hawks and Fighting Leathernecks will square off at 2 p.m. (CT) at Western Hall in Macomb. The game will be carried by ESPN3 and aired on the Home of Economy Radio Network.
