BISMARCK, N.D. – Four Fighting Hawks finished in double-figure scoring led by Bismarck native Treysen Eaglestaff's game-high 17 points, North Dakota dominated the glass finishing at +18 behind 50 total rebounds and UND cruised past Dickinson State 85-54 on Tuesday night in the inaugural playing of the Capital City Classic from inside the Bismarck Event Center.
 
Eaglestaff's return to his hometown saw the junior guard add four rebounds, four assists, one steal and a block to a 40% shooting night. He also connected on all eight of his free throw attempts as UND finished 18-for-23 from the stripe. Junior forward Dariyus Woodson finished with ten points and was one of three Hawks to grab seven rebounds in the win. Sophomore guard Mier Panoam and senior forward Amar Kuljuhovic each scored ten points and added seven rebounds.
 
It was a back-and-forth start on Tuesday evening in the capital city, but the Hawks emerged with an 11-7 lead at the first media stoppage behind 3-of-6 shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 shooting from the stripe. Rebounding played a role early for the Fighting Hawks as the host sat +6 on the glass at the 11:58 mark for the second media. That trend would continue as UND entered the break at +17 in rebounding.
 
Eaglestaff delivered nine of UND's first 15 points and finished with 13 at the break. All four of his assists came in the first twenty minutes of play which included helpers to Eli King who drilled a corner three out of the second media timeout and a replay-worthy dime to Reggie Thomas who finished with a lay-in through contact. That sequence was spurred as a result of a steal from Mambourou Mara which was one of four first-half thefts by the Hawks who also took care of the basketball with just four turnovers before the intermission.
 
It was much of the same for North Dakota coming out of the halftime locker room. The Fighting Hawks' lead grew to 28 points in a run that was highlighted by a pair of driving layups from King and a Woodson three-pointer. Just under eight minutes into the action, Woodson hit another trifecta as part of a 3-for-3 night from range to build the Hawks' advantage to 31 at 63-32.
 
Prior to Woodson's three, Mara hammered home a baseline drive to the hoop on a dime by Thomas which erupted the Bismarck Event Center. UND deployed a much younger lineup for the final dozen minutes of play as redshirt freshmen Ryan Erikson, Matthew Bothun and Zach Kraft all scored their collegiate points, while freshman George Natsvishvili got in on the scoring act for the first time in the Kelly green and white.
 
UND eyes its regular season home opener on Thursday, November 14. The Hawks welcome in Utah Valley to the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center for a noon tip-off. It will be Kids Day inside the BESC as the Western Athletic Conference's Wolverines make their fifth trip to Grand Forks. It will be the first of two meetings this season (Dec. 11 – Orem, Utah), the ninth match up all-time between the two programs and the first hardwood battle since November 24, 2018. UVU leads the series 5-3.
 
Fans can follow the action live with Fighting Hawks men's basketball radio play-by-play voice Paul Ralston on KSNR 100.3 FM The Cat or on the iHeart Radio app. The action can be seen on Midco Sports and the Summit League Network and live stats for the contest will be available at www.FightingHawks.com.
 
Postgame Notes

• Eaglestaff scored in double figures for the 38^th time in his career
• Eleven Hawks played for a dozen minutes or more in the win
• Twelve of 14 Hawks that touched the floor finished in the scoring column
• UND hit 45.5% of its shots including seven of its 23 attempts from range
• UND committed just ten turnovers
• The Hawks perimeter defense held DSU to just a 14.3% success rate from three-point range
• North Dakota finished +12 in paint scoring with nearly half of its total points coming from its bench
• Bismarck native Ryan Erikson scored for the first time in his career and finished with eight points, four rebounds, one assist and a steal
• Redshirt freshman and Bismarck native Anthony Doppler played a dozen-plus minutes and finished with two rebounds and a steal and spent much of his time in and around DSU passing lanes
• Redshirt freshman Zach Kraft hit his first trifecta to finish with two rebounds and an assist
• Redshirt freshman Matthew Bothun played over 6:30 minutes with his first career bucket  
• Freshman George Natsvishvili scored on a drive to the basket for his first points at UND
• The win improves UND's all-time record against Dickinson State to 8-0 and the Hawks' record in Bismarck to 2-2 since the start of the 2000-01 season
• It is the ninth neutral site win for the Hawks in Sather's tenure as that record since the 2019-20 season moves above .500 at 9-8
• Sather improves to 8-5 all-time against Dickinson State

How It Happened
 
First Half
14:33 – UND 11, DSU 7  (Eaglestaff 7 pts, UND 3-of-6 FG, 4-of-5 FT)
11:58 – UND 15, DSU 12  (UND 0-for-4 FG, +6 rebounding)
7:58 – UND 30, DSU 19 (UND 5-of-6  FG)
3:37 – UND 36, DSU 21 (UND 6-0 run last 1:27, DSU 3:03 scoring drought)
HALF – UND 44, DSU 25
 
Second Half
14:45 – UND 55, DSU 27 (UND 11-4 run out of the half)
11:43 – UND 65, DSU 32 (UND 7-0 run over last 1:31)
8:14 – UND 67, DSU 38 (UND 0 FG last 4:28, DSU 4 TOs last 2:09)
6:32 – UND 69, DSU 42 (DSU 5-of-last-7 FG)
FINAL – UND 85, DSU 54
 
For more information on North Dakota men's basketball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmbasketball.