GRAND FORKS, N.D. – In a game that featured 12 lead changes and eight ties, the North Dakota men's basketball team came up just short against the Montana Grizzlies on Saturday evening, losing by a score of 79-75. UND falls to 3-8 while Montana improves to 5-5.
UND led by as many as 10 in the second half, while holding a 71-66 advantage with 4:32 to play in the contest. Montana ended the game on a 13-4 run, headlined by 30-points from Money Williams on the opposite side.
George Natsvlishvili had a career game, logging his second career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, along with a block, an assist and a steal each. The 19 points were a career best for the big man.
Eli King (14),
Marley Curtis (13) and
Greyson Uelmen (12) each got into double figures as well, with King grabbing six rebounds and a season-high five steals. Curtis connected on two three-pointers and Uelmen went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Reggie Thomas gave the Hawks a major spark off the bench, totaling four steals, three rebounds, a block and an assist in 20 minutes of action.
UND attempted 66 field goal attempts, compared to just 50 from the Grizzlies. NoDak corralled 16 offensive rebounds, snatched 14 steals and forced 17 Montana turnovers, but the Hawks were outscored by 21 points from the three-point line. The Grizzlies shot 12-of-24 from deep, compared to 5-of-21 from North Dakota.
The Green and White fell behind 20-12 early in the first half with 10:44 to play but used an 18-5 burst to take a 30-25 advantage with 2:52 remaining. UND outscored Montana 9-8 in the final 2:52, concluded by a three-point play from Natsvlishvili to go into the break, up 39-33.
King came out in the second half with a steal and bucket on the Grizzlies first possession, which was followed by two free throws from Uelmen to give UND its largest lead at 43-33 with 19:15 to play. With a chance to keep things going, Montana responded with a 12-0 run of its own to go up 45-43 at the 15:19 mark.
North Dakota responded with 11 straight points over the next 2:09, headlined by seven points from King to take a 54-45 lead at the under 12-minute mark.
Montana answered with a 15-4 run to go up 60-58, which UND responded to with a 13-6 run to control a 71-66 lead at the 4:32 point.
Following five straight points from the Grizzlies to tie it at 71-71, Natsvlishvili found a cutting
Garrett Anderson in the paint where he connected for a layup, to give UND a 73-71 lead with under three minutes to play.
Montana connected on 1-of-2 free throws and a layup to go up 74-73. The Grizzlies got a stop with 1:06 to play, when Tyler Thompson blocked Anderson's jump shot. Montana then came down on the other end, where Anderson blocked Chase Henderson's shot attempt with 40 seconds left, but the block hit the rim, giving Montana a reset to 20 on the shot clock. The Grizzlies took advantage of that, as Williams connected on a mid-range jumper with 19 seconds left to go up 76-73.
After a UND timeout, the Hawks attempted to go for a quick two-pointer, but Uelmen was unable to convert on his drive to the basket, which was rebounded by Montana. UND fouled Thompson, where he went 1-for-2 from the line to make it a two-possession game at 77-73 with four seconds to play.
North Dakota ended up falling 79-75 in a close battle. The Hawks will be back in action at home on Wednesday against Crown College at 7 p.m.
Postgame Notes
- UND falls to 7-20 all-time against Montana
- Natsvlishvili had a career-high 19 points, while totaling his second career double-double
- King had a season best five steals, his third career game with five or more steals
- Thomas logged a career-high four steals
- Zach Kraft and Curtis combined to shoot 4-for-9 from behind the arc, with the rest of the team shooting 1-for-12
- Curtis registered his fifth game with two or more three-pointers this season, while Kraft had his eighth multi-three-pointer game
- North Dakota dominated in the paint winning the battle 46-26
- The Hawks turned 17 Montana turnovers into 18 points
- UND had 27 points off the bench compared to 13 from Montana
How it Happened
First Half
15:53 UM 8, UND 7
11:58 UM 17, UND 12
7:39 UM 23, UND 21
3:16 UND 28, UM 25
Halftime: UND 39, UM 33
Second Half
16:04 UND 43, UM 43
10:06 UND 58, UM 53
7:32 UND 61, UM 60
2:30 UND 73, UM 71
Final: UM 79, UND 75
For more information on North Dakota men's basketball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmbasketball.
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