by Josh McSwain
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota buried a program record 18 made three-pointers, en route to a 77-60 victory over Kansas City inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Thursday night.
Tsonte Tsartsidze hit the first three pointer and first basket of the game while Treysen Eaglestaff hit the final three pointer that set a new record for the Fighting Hawks. UND never trailed in the game.
Eaglestaff was the top Hawk (7-13, 1-6 SL), setting a new season high with 19 points. Five of his makes came from downtown. He also hauled in six rebounds, which was also a top mark for him in his young career. Eaglestaff finished with a pair of steals defensively and dished out two assists in 35 minutes of play.
Matt Norman also made five shots from downtown, the marksman scored 17 points and shoot 6-12 (50.0 percent) from the floor and 5-11 (45.5 percent) from three-point range. He also picked up three boards and two assists.
B.J. Omot tied with Tsartsidze with 16 points, putting four Hawks in double figures. Omot drained three threes, all in the first half, tying his season best. He also led the team with three assists.
Tsartsidze buried four triples, tying a career best from beyond the arc, which he set at Creighton earlier this season.
Jalun Trent added six points on the evening. Omot, Tsartsidze and Trent all tied for the team lead in rebounds with six boards apiece.
In the game, North Dakota shot 42.9 percent from the field (24-for-56) and shot the same percentage from beyond the arc (18-for-42).
The Hawks also crashed the boards with 36 rebounds, two more than the Roos. North Dakota also held the edge in assists by a 12-10 margin.
UND scored the first nine points of the game with triples from Tsartsidze, Brady Danielson and Eaglestaff. The Roos fought back to tie the game at nine before Tsartsidze hit another three to take the lead back at 12-9. North Dakota kept the lead for the rest of the game.
The first 33 points the Hawks scored were from beyond the arc. The first two pointer of the game for UND came at the two minute mark of the first half from Tsartsidze on a hook shot in the paint. UND took a 37-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Eaglestaff scored the first five points of the second half as the Hawks pushed their lead back to double digits at 42-30. The Hawks were flying high, leading by double digits most of the half but with 5:01 left the Roos made it a nine-point game, trimming the deficit down to 62-53. With 3:03 left UND held a six-point edge at 64-58, but from there the Hawks defense clamped down defensively and only allowed two more points as the threes at the end poured in and set the program’s best ever mark.
North Dakota will continue its homestand on Saturday, hosting Oral Roberts at 1 p.m. The game will air on Midco Sports and will be carried on the Home of Economy Radio Network.
