GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota men's basketball team returned home for the final weekend of the regular season Thursday morning, with an early start against Western Illinois. It was a tough day shooting for the Hawks, who fell 81-70. Tsotne Tsartsidze had his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points (which tied his career high) and 13 rebounds. It was the 11th straight game in double figures for the Hawks forward.
B.J. Omot also joined Tsartsidze in double figures with 16 points and blocked two shots. Treysen Eaglestaff was the third Hawk in double figures with 14 points and made three shots from downtown. He also led the team with three assists.
UND took the lead at 2-0 with a dunk from Omot, which would prove to be the only lead for the Hawks on the day. WIU pulled ahead and would lead the entire first half until UND tied the game at 27 late in the first half. Down 27-20 with 5:53 to go the Hawks reeled off seven straight points, capped off by a three from Norman to make it a tie game for the first time since 2-2. But UND was unable to ride the momentum back ahead and would trail 38-32 at the break.
In the second half, the Hawks cut the deficit to just four points early on as Brady Danielson and Matt Norman made back-to-back buckets. But each time that the Hawks would gain some momentum in the second half, the Leathernecks would answer. After trailing by double digits most of the second half, the Hawks got back to within eight as Omot connected on two foul shots with 4:01 to play at 72-64. But once again Western Illinois would answer and not allow UND to pull any closer the rest of the way.
North Dakota will host St. Thomas on Saturday at 1 P.M. in the regular season finale at the Betty.
Postgame Notes
· Following the result, North Dakota trails 8-7 in the all-time series against WIU.
· UND shot under 40% from the field for the second time in three games after shooting over 40% for the previous six straight games.
· UND outscored WIU 15-7 in bench points.
· Eaglestaff led the team with two steals, his fifth game with multiple steals this season.
· Omot had multiple blocks for the seventh time this season.
· Tsartsidze has 11 straight games in double figures.
How It Happened
First Half
- 15:55 – WIU 7, UND 4
- 11:45 – WIU 13, UND 7
- 6:16 – WIU 25, UND 18
- 3:03 – WIU 33, UND 27
- 0:00 – WIU 38, UND 32
Second Half
- 15:28 – WIU 44, UND 38
- 11:39 – WIU 53, UND 40
- 7:09 – WIU 64, UND 53
- 3:05 – WIU 74, UND 64
- 0:00 – WIU 81, UND 70
