ST. PAUL, Minn. – Eli King set a new career high with 17 points on Saturday night to help lead the North Dakota men's basketball team to a 74-64 win over St. Thomas in St. Paul. The Fighting Hawks earned the split with the Tommies as the road team won in both games this season.

B.J. Omot scored 22 points to lead the UND attack, his fourth straight game over 20 points. King was next with 17, and Tyree Ihenacho also scored in double-figures with 12. Ihenacho led the team with five assists, while Amar Kuljuhovic led with nine rebounds and scored eight points.

Both teams struggled to find baskets in the early going, with Kuljuhovic scoring first for UND at the 16:29 mark to tie the game at two. But as the half went on, both offenses found their groove. NoDak got its first lead courtesy of an Omot dunk at 13:41 to go up 6-4, but the middle part of the half was a seesawing battle between the two as neither team was able to grab a decisive upper hand. At the 5:39 mark of the half, Ihenacho put the green and white back up 24-22, which was the start of a 16-5 run to close the half and go into intermission up 38-27.

In the opening ten minutes of the second half, the Tommies chipped away at the Fighting Hawks lead—trimming it down to three at 50-47. Brady Danielson answered with a three to push the UND lead back up to six, and on the next Tommie possession Eli King sniffed out a pass from the wing coming back to center court and stole it for a breakaway dunk that pushed the lead back up to eight. From there, the green and white led by multiple possessions the rest of the way and closed out a ten point win.

Next week will be a split week as UND will travel to Vermillion to take on South Dakota on Thursday before coming home for the Phil Jackson/Bill Fitch Banner Raising Game against North Dakota State.

Postgame Notes 

·         UND shot 48.4% from the field after shooting 30.6% in the first meeting.

·         Omot became the first Fighting Hawk to score 20+ points in four straight games since Paul Bruns in February of 2022.

·         Tsotne Tsartsidze grabbed eight boards and scored six points.

·         NoDak made nine three pointers on 25 attempts (36%), while UST shot 4-17 from downtown (23.5%).

·         UND had a +11 on the glass (37-26).

·         UST's Raheem Anthony led all scorers with 32 points.

How It Happened 

First Half

15:50 – UST 2, UND 2

11:17 – UND 13, UST 9

6:49 – UST 20, UND 19

3:27 – UND 28, UST 22

Half – UND 38, UST 27

Second Half

15:32 – UND 40, UST 32

10:44 – UND 50, UST 44

7:47 – UND 55, UST 49

3:24 – UND 67, UST 56

Final – UND 74, UST 64

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