GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Sophomore guard Mier Panoam produced his second-straight 20-point game and added a career-high dozen rebounds for the first double-double of his career and three more North Dakota players followed with 14 points, but an early deficit proved too much for the Fighting Hawks on Saturday afternoon inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as visiting St. Thomas claimed an 88-80 decision in Summit League action.
 
North Dakota (6-11, 0-2 SL) found an early hole as St. Thomas (12-5, 2-0 SL) opened on an 11-0 run on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc through the under-16 media timeout. The Tommies would enter a brief scoring drought, while the Hawks turned to the trigger of redshirt freshman Zach Kraft who hit his first two trifectas as part of an 8-0 UND run that aided the Hawks in cutting the deficit to 17-10 just under the 12-minute mark.
 
A steal by junior forward Dariyus Woodson and the ensuing cross-court drive to the basket preceded a successful triple try by the Texan moments before junior combo Eli King hammered an attempt from the wing. That 7-2 run pulled UND to within a possession of the UST lead at 21-19 as the clock neared nine minutes before the intermission.
 
The Tommies responded with a 15-2 run that was capped off just below the final media stoppage to lead 36-21. UND committed just seven turnovers on the afternoon, but four came during UST's second big run of the opening half as the Tommies led by a dozen at the intermission.
 
UND outscored UST 51-47 in the second half of play on 44% shooting, but the visitors still managed to connect at a high clip of 56.7% from the floor, while notching seven made threes. The Hawks cut into the UST lead early in the second half to trail by just two possessions and drained a 19-point UST lead down to just seven in the final half minute of play.
 
North Dakota prepares for its first road swing of the league slate as the annual Denver-Tulsa tour begins on Thursday in the Mile High City. The Hawks take on the Pioneers in the 16^th meeting between the two programs. UND swept DU last season and holds a 4-3 mark on the road in addition to the overall series lead at 9-6 in a series that first tipped off in March of 1992. In Summit League action, the Hawks are up 7-4 in the series.  
 
Action tips off at 8 p.m. on January 9 from inside Hamilton Gymnasium. The action can be seen on the Summit League Network. 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. Live stats for the contest will be available at www.FightingHawks.com.
 
Postgame Notes

• Panoam flirted with a triple-double as he added six assists and matched his career-best shots made output from Thursday night with eight
• His career-high 12 rebounds match the team's individual season-high output
• North Dakota netted double-digit three-point makes for the fourth time in the past six games
• UND shot a season-best 92.3% (12-of-13) from the stripe
• UND's 13 offensive rebounds marks the 16^th straight game with 12+ such boards and the Hawks have now outrebounded an opponent 11 times this season
• Woodson (6-of-11), King (5-of-10) and junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff (4-of-11) all scored 14 points to round out the four double-figure scorers from the Hawks
• King hit a career-high four three-point shots
• Woodson finished with two assists and a rebound, King recorded seven rebounds and an assist and Eaglestaff added a rebound and made all six of his free throw attempts
• Eaglestaff's 14 points improves his active double-figure scoring streak to 23 games
• Senior forward Amar Kuljuhovic added eight points and eight rebounds
• Kraft (6 points) has now hit two or more three-point shots in each of his last five games
• North Dakota was unable to absorb a 30-point afternoon from Miles Barnstable
• UST became the fourth-straight Division I opponent to shoot 50% or better from the floor and did so on a 46.7% clip from three-point range
• UND's record against Summit League foes under Sather moves to 33-53

 
How It Happened
 
First Half
15:39 – UST 11, UND 0 (UST 3-of-6 3FGs; UND 0-of-6 FGs)
11:52 – UST 17, UND 10 (UND Kraft 2-of-3 3pt FG; UST No FGs last 3:28)
7:44 – UST 23, UND 19
3:41 – UST 36, UND 21 (UST 15-2 run over 4:25, 7-of-last 8 FGs; UND 4 TOs last 5:29)
HALF – UST 41, UND 29
 
Second Half
15:48 – UST 51, UND 39 (UND 1-of-last-7 FGs)
12:00 – UST 58, UND 47
7:24 – UST 75, UND 59 (UST 4-of-last-5 FGs, 13-of-26 3pt FGs)
3:00 – UST 82, UND 69
FINAL – UST 88, UND 80
 
For more information on North Dakota men's basketball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmbasketball.