TULSA, Okla. – The North Dakota men's basketball team got a balanced effort Saturday night with 20 points from B.J. Omot, 17 from Treysen Eaglestaff, 13 from Tyree Ihenacho and 11 from Eli King to defeat Oral Roberts 78-65 on Saturday night at Mabee Arena. It is the second time that the Fighting Hawks have gotten consecutive wins against the Golden Eagles (2/6/20 and 1/8/21) and first time that NoDak has gotten a season sweep.

Amar Kuljuhovic led UND with 13 rebounds, while Ihenacho and Kuljuhovic tied with three assists. Ihenacho blocked four shots to set a new career high, and Eli King grabbed a team high four steals.

Eaglestaff got the scoring started for UND with two layups, and from there the Fighting Hawks never looked back. ORU chipped away to make it a six-point game at 24-18 with just under nine minutes to go in the first half, but from there the green and white went on a 10-0 run to expand the lead to 16 points. Ihenacho drained a three, Eaglestaff hit three from the line and Eaglestaff and Kuljuhovic hit baskets to grab what would be the biggest lead of the game to that point. UND saw out the rest of the first half and took a 43-28 lead into intermission.

In the second half NoDak would lead by as many as 19, which came following a layup by Eaglestaff with 15:56 remaining. Later in the half the Golden Eagles pulled within five at 55-50 as Isaac McBride completed a three-point play. But UND answered with six straight points from Omot and kept ORU at bay. With 1:59 to go it was an eight-point game at 67-59, but the Fighting Hawks closed the game on an 11-6 run to seal the victory.

The Fighting Hawks will be back in action next Saturday in Fargo against North Dakota State at 1 p.m.

Postgame Notes 

·         With 17 wins this season, it is the most in a season by UND during Paul Sather's tenure and the most since winning the Big Sky title in 2016-17.

·         UND dominated on the boards with 46 to ORU's 30.

·         Tsotne Tsartsidze grabbed eight rebounds and five points.

·         Brady Danielson scored seven points off the bench and hit one of the four UND threes.

·         NoDak got a season high 26 points from the foul line.

How It Happened 

First Half

15:44 – UND 9, ORU 6

10:42 – UND 20, ORU 11

7:19 – UND 27, ORU 18

4:19 – UND 34, ORU 18

Half – UND 43, ORU 28

Second Half

15:41 – UND 52, ORU 33

12:19 – UND 53, ORU 42

7:26 – UND 59, ORU 50

3:50 – UND 63, ORU 54

Final – UND 78, ORU 65

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