GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota men's basketball team got consecutive wins for the second time this season as they defeated the University of Denver Thursday night 86-63. It is their second straight win after defeating South Dakota on Saturday. Four Hawks scored in double figures, led by B.J. Omot with 16 points and Matt Norman racked up 15 for his tenth straight game in double figures. The last player to score in double figures ten straight games was Filip Rebraca in 2020.
Tsotne Tsartsidze also scored 15 and Jalun Trent scored 14. Omot led the team in rebounds with nine, coming one board short of his first double-double and Treysen Eaglestaff dished out a season high six assists to lead the Hawks.
The Hawks led the whole game, an inversion of the game in Denver between the two when the Pioneers never trailed. Trent got the Hawks on the board first, then Norman and Omot followed to build a 6-0 lead. Brady Danielson hit the first three of the game for the Hawks to go up 9-2, and from there it was off to the races. The Hawks built their first double digit lead at the 12:38 mark of the half on a hook shot from Tsartsidze to go up 16-6. UND led by as many as 15 in the first half (on two different occasions). Ultimately the Hawks took a 43-29 edge into the locker room.
Early in the second half the Pioneers cut the Hawks lead down to ten points, but UND responded with an 8-0 run with a bucket from Eaglestaff and two threes from Norman to go back up by 18. This run set the tone for the rest of the game and put a boost into the Hawks that never went away for the rest of the game. Later Omot would score to put UND up 20 in the middle of the half, and in the second half the Hawks would lead by as many as 26 as they saw out the victory.
Twelve Hawks saw the floor tonight, and nine players scored. Elijah Brooks and Mitchell Sueker each scored eight points while Danielson scored five, Caleb Nero scored three and Eaglestaff two. Omot also picked up two blocked shots to follow up his five block performance from Saturday—including an off the backboard rejection in the second half.
For the game, the Hawks shot 55.9% from the field and 36.4% from downtown while limiting the Pioneers to shooting 43.6% from the floor and 6.7% from beyond the arc.
North Dakota will host Omaha Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will be carried on the Home of Economy Radio Network and will be televised on Midco Sports Two.
Postgame Notes
- Following the result, North Dakota tied the all-time series at six.
- B.J. Omot didn't come off the floor the entire first half and played over 38 minutes in the game.
- Eaglestaff was the first Hawk to dish out six assists since Trent did against CSU-Fullerton earlier this season.
- As a team, the Hawks shot .800 from the foul line. It was their second straight game at 80% or higher from the stripe.
- Norman scored in double figures for the tenth straight game, and Tsartsidze for the seventh straight game.
- UND grabbed 12 offensive rebounds which led to 20 second chance points.
- The Hawks bench outscored the Pioneers 21-11.
How It Happened
First Half
- 15:49 – UND 9, Denver 2
- 11:47 – UND 16, Denver 8
- 7:45 – UND 22, Denver 10
- 4:04 – UND 32, Denver 17
- 0:00 – UND 43, Denver 29
Second Half
- 15:31 – UND 52, Denver 38
- 11:54 – UND 60, Denver 42
- 7:15 – UND 73, Denver 50
- 3:38 – UND 77, Denver 58
- 0:00 – UND 86, Denver 63
