GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota stumbled 84-74 in the COVID-19 make-good game against St. Thomas inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Tuesday afternoon.
Matt Norman was the leading scorer for UND (6-24, 2-15 SL), pouring in 21 points and netting 11 of his points in the second half. Norman finished hitting 50.0 percent (7-of-14) from the field, knocked down five triples and went 2-of-2 at the charity stripe. He just missed out on a double-double with eight rebounds and also dished out two assists.
Tsotne Tsartsidze threw in 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed seven boards, followed by
Ethan Igbanugo adding 10 points.
Paul Bruns just missed double-digits with eight points and three assists, sharing the team-high in assists with
Reid Grant with three. Grant and
Caleb Nero also chipped in six points apiece.
Five players for the Tommies (9-19, 3-14 SL) netted double figures, led by Ryan Lindberg accounting for 14 points. Brooks Allen recorded a double-double, grabbing 11 boards to go with his 12 points, while Riley Miller also scored 12 points.
North Dakota shot 44.1 percent, knocked down 11 triples and finished 11-of-13 at the charity stripe, while St. Thomas hit at 49.1 percent, added 10 trifectas and went 20-of-22 at the line.
The Tommies held a 33-32 edge in rebounds and outscored the Hawks by a 34-30 margin in the paint. UST also forced eight UND turnovers, while North Dakota created six St. Thomas turnovers.
UND opened the game on a 6-0 run and led 9-5 at the first media timeout. UST claimed the lead for the first time at 14-13 with just over 12 minutes before halftime.
Nero gave UND the lead with a trifecta at 16-14 on the next possession, and then the teams started trading buckets. A 15-5 run for the Tommies at the end of the half gave them a 41-30 lead at intermission. Norman (10) and Lindberg (7) were the leading scorers for their respective teams at the break.
St. Thomas opened the second half on a 10-2 run to increase its lead to 47-32 by the first media timeout of the second half and pushed its lead to 25 (59-34) with 12:18 left in the ballgame.
The Hawks used runs of 9-0 and 7-0 to trim the deficit to single digits (70-61) with 4:10 left but the Tommies knocked down free throws in the final minutes to get the victory.
North Dakota will close out the season on Saturday with North Dakota State. The Fighting Hawks and Bison will tip-off at 1 p.m. (CT) inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The game will be carried by Midco Sports Two and aired on the Home of Economy Radio Network.
