GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Five players scored in double figures Thursday night for the North Dakota men's basketball team who returned home for the first time in over two weeks and grabbed an 87-77 win over Oral Roberts.

The victory snapped a seven-game skid against the Golden Eagles, with the previous victory in the series coming on Jan. 8, 2021 in Tulsa. B.J. Omot led the Fighting Hawks with 25 points, joined in double figures by Tyree Ihenacho with 22, Tsotne Tsartsidze with 14, Treysen Eaglestaff with 12 and Amar Kuljuhovic with ten. Tsartsidze and Ihenacho each had double-doubles with 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively.

The first few minutes of the game were pedal to the metal for both teams, going up and down the floor at a furious pace. Excellent shooting early by NoDak gave the hosts a 15-6 lead after four minutes of action. The green and white expanded their lead up to as many as 14, following back-to-back dunks from Omot. The Golden Eagles would come back and trim the Fighting Hawks lead to four, but UND held off the run and built back a seven-point lead at intermission at 44-37.

Early in the second half, hot three-point shooting from Oral Roberts trimmed the UND lead to under five, but each time the visitors made a push the Fighting Hawks had an answer and kept the Golden Eagles from taking the lead. Omot pushed the lead back up to double digits with 14:30 to go, and kept it up most of the second half. With 2:05 to go it was a five point game, but the green and white closed the game strong with Omot and Tsartsidze hitting clutch free throws and a deep three from Ihenacho to seal the deal.

North Dakota will host Denver on Saturday with a noon tip off.

Postgame Notes 

·        Omot scored 20 points in back-to-back games for the third time this season.

·        Ihenacho and Omot have now gone over 20 points in back-to-back games.

·        With the double-doubles from both Tsartsidze and Ihenacho, it is the first time that two Fighting Hawks recorded double-doubles since Filip Rebraca and De'Sean Allen-Eikens did it at Milwaukee on Nov. 19, 2019.

·        UND made seven of its first nine shots from the field.

·        Points in the paint were 46-32 in favor of the Fighting Hawks.

How It Happened 

First Half

15:48 – UND 13, ORU 6

10:20 – UND 22, ORU 14

8:06 – UND 28, ORU 14

1:28 – UND 40, ORU 32

Half – UND 44, ORU 37

Second Half

15:26 – UND 56, ORU 47

11:58 – UND 63, ORU 52

7:31 – UND 67, ORU 58

3:46 – UND 73, ORU 66

Final – UND 87, ORU 77

For more information on North Dakota men's basketball, follow on social media @UNDmbasketball or visit FightingHawks.com.