MACOMB, Ill. – North Dakota played their third game in five days Monday night as they traveled to take on Western Illinois, falling to the Leathernecks 92-80. UND held a halftime lead 41-36 but a huge second half from WIU propelled them to victory.

Trenton Massner led WIU with 46 points, which is a new record for individual single game points by a UND opponent. The previous record was 43 from Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin during the 2013-14 season.

Four Hawks (7-15, 1-8 SL) reached double figures, led by Tsonte Tsartsidze with 19, setting a new career best. Matt Norman was next with 18, Jalun Trent followed with 12 and Treysen Eaglestaff had 11. 

Tsartsidze also grabbed eight boards to lead the Hawks. He and Trent grabbed the two steals for the Hawks and B.J. Omot picked up the lone blocked shot. Eaglestaff led the team with two assists.

Early on the game was very close, UND took their first lead at 6-4 with a layup from Tsartsidze. The teams went back and forth for most of he half, with ten lead changes and nine ties. Down 18-17 with 11:02 left, Elijah Brooks made a layup and then converted the three point play to give the Hawks a two point lead. UND eventually took their biggest lead at 41-34 with 48 seconds left in the half following two free throws from Brian Mathews. A late bucket from WIU cut the UND edge to five points at the break.

Brady Danielson got the Hawks on the board to start the second half, giving UND a 44-40 lead. WIU took a lead at 50-48 at the 14:40 mark and from there would not trail the rest of the game. The Hawks fought back to tie the game at 60 on a layup from Omot and at 63 on a layup from Tsartsidze, but the Hawks were unable to take back the lead during the last eight plus minutes.

In the game, North Dakota shot 33-64 from the floor (51.6%) and 7-24 from three-point range (29.2%).

North Dakota will make the short trip south to Fargo on Friday to take on North Dakota State. The game will be carried on the Home of Economy Radio Network.

Postgame Notes

• Following the result, North Dakota is now tied with WIU in the all-time series with seven wins for each team.
• UND forced ten turnovers from WIU in the first half.
• UND shot 50% from the floor in the first half.
• The Hawks had a 12-5 edge in points off turnovers in the first half and got 26 points in the paint.
• UND finished with 25 bench points.
• Both teams shot over 50% from the floor in the second half.

How It Happened
First Half

• 14:31 – UND 9, WIU 8
• 11:18 – WIU 18, UND 17
• 7:43 – UND 28, WIU 24
• 3:09 - UND 35, WIU 31
• 0:00 – UND 41, WIU 36

Second Half

• 15:38 – UND 46, WIU 46
• 11:56 – WIU 60, UND 55
• 7:47 – WIU 65, UND 63
• 3:25 – WIU 79, UND 68
• 0:00 – WIU 92, UND 80