by GRAND FORKS, N.D. – It was a tale of two halves for North Dakota men’s basketball on Thursday night inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as the Fighting Hawks carried a 51-49 lead into the break following a three-point barrage by both benches in the opening twenty but then suffered a significant scoring drought over the course of the game’s final ten minutes as South Dakota rallied past UND 102-93 in Summit League action.
An early six points from sophomore guard Mier Panoam, who finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting, on drives to the basketball aided UND’s dictation of the first four minutes of play and helped set the tone for the Hawks offensively in the first half. The two sides found plenty of success from beyond-the-arc in the first half as the two benches combined for 15 made three-point shots with the Hawks accounting for seven with three coming courtesy of junior forward Dariyus Woodson.
The Hawks’ largest lead of the night came on a successful triple try from junior guard Eli King who beat an expiring shot clock for a 36-27 UND lead with 7:39 to play in the first half.
Ball movement was key early for the Hawks with Woodson benefiting from several passes on his first three-point make in addition to receiving a helper from sophomore George Natsvishvili on a near no-look pass to the cutter who finished. Natsvishvili also aided King on the aforementioned buzzer-beater.
Out of the intermission, sophomore forward Mambourou Mara, who opened scoring in the contest with a corner three, impacted the Hawks early on offensively with a pair of rim-rocking dunks and a baseline triple for a quick seven points out of the intermission and a five-point UND advantage at the 17:47 mark of the second half.
A trifecta from the stroke of junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff kept the Hawks in front by seven (66-59, 15:13), while a drive to the basket by Panoam (69-61, 13:49) pushed UND up eight with just under 14 minutes to play. Panoam again scored on a driving layup to keep the Coyotes at bay as UND held a 76-72 lead at the 11:08 mark. However, the Hawks would encounter trouble on the offensive end as USD engineered a 20-6 run to grab a ten-point lead with just over two minutes remaining, while the Hawks managed to pull as close as nine down the stretch.
North Dakota prepares for its annual trip south to face longtime bitter rival North Dakota State on Saturday in Fargo. The two Peace Garden State foes tangle for the 310th time in a series that began in March of 1905. UND leads the all-time series 164-145 and is 60-88 against the Bison in Fargo. NDSU won last year’s matchup at home by five points, while UND used a last second shot from Amar Kuljuhovic to beat the Bison 60-58 in Grand Forks. The win snapped a four-game losing streak to NDSU. Saturday’s matchup is set for 4 p.m. from inside Scheels Arena.
