STOCKTON, Calif. – The North Dakota men's basketball team won its third straight game Monday night, defeating Pacific 73-71 in a nail biter that was close throughout.
Tsotne Tsartsidze led the Fighting Hawks with 19 points, including the go ahead layup with 21 seconds left to put UND up 72-71, and then the final point of the game on a free throw in the final seconds. Eli King and B.J. Omot each had 12 points, and Amar Kuljuhovic reached double figures for the first time as a Fighting Hawk with ten. King led the team in rebounds for the second game in a row with eight and Treysen Eaglestaff led with six assists. Omot blocked three shots and King had two of the seven UND steals.
Both teams started slowly offensively, but a triple from Omot gave the Fighting Hawks a 10-6 lead at the 15:24 mark of the half. From there the pendulum swung the other way with a 13-3 run by Pacific—which was halted by a 10-0 run from NoDak with a three from King and a dunk from Omot to bring the green and white within one, then a triple from Tsartsidze to go back ahead and then a layup from King to make it 23-19. The teams went back and forth in the half, and ultimately a three-point play from Amar Kuljuhovic knotted it up at 35, which is how the two teams went to intermission.
Pacific came out of the locker room with the momentum in the second half, building a 50-42 lead just over five minutes into the second half. But NoDak chipped away, owning the next five minutes of the half with a 12-4 run that tied the game up at 54. An alley-oop from Elijah Brooks to Omot gave UND their first lead of the second half with 8:17 remaining. But Pacific took the lead back, going ahead 65-60 with 4:24 to go. Tsartsidze answered with a three and an Eaglestaff layup tied it at 65 with 2:39 left. Two free throws from King put the green and white back ahead 70-69 with 57 ticks left, Pacific went back ahead briefly at 71-70 before Tsartsidze finished off the game.
The Fighting Hawks will head to the Natural State for the Central Arkansas Classic on Saturday, Nov. 25 and 26 to take on New Orleans University and Eastern Michigan.
Postgame Notes
· UND outshot Pacific from the foul line, making 14 free throws to eight for the Tigers.
· The Fighting Hawks grabbed seven offensive rebounds and scored ten second chance points.
· After shooting 43.8% from the field in the first half, NoDak shot 52% in the second half.
· The bench for UND outscored Pacific 19-17.
· Eaglestaff's six assists were the most by a Fighting Hawk in a game this season.
How It Happened
First Half
15:41 – UND 7, Pacific 6
10:18 – Pacific 19, UND 13
7:48 – Pacific 19, UND 18
3:56 – UND 28, Pacific 25
Half – UND 35, Pacific 35
Second Half
14:29 – Pacific 50, UND 42
11:40 – Pacific 54, UND 49
7:26 – UND 58, Pacific 56
1:57 – Pacific 67, UND 65
Final – UND 73, Pacific 71
For more information on North Dakota men's basketball, follow on social media @UNDmbasketball or visit FightingHawks.com.
