by Jacob Pumphrey
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.
