by Josh McSwain
OMAHA, Neb. – North Dakota fell 69-63 Thursday night to the Omaha Mavericks, in a game that was tightly contested throughout. Treysen Eaglestaff led the Fighting Hawks with 13 points while Tsotne Tsartsidze had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds; the first of Tsartsidze’s career.
After Omaha jumped out to an 8-4 lead to begin the game, the Hawks went on an 11-2 run—which was started and concluded by a three from Matt Norman to go up 15-10. Norman hit four three pointers in the opening frame to pace the Hawks, who led by as many as nine in the half at 25-16. Hot shooting from Omaha kept the game close as North Dakota went into the locker room with a 31-29 edge.
The two teams traded the lead back and forth to start the second half, but a steal and dunk from B.J. Omot began a 10-2 run that propelled the Hawks to a 45-36 lead, capped off with a layup from Eaglestaff. Omaha chipped away with 9:09 to go and took the lead at 50-49. The Mavericks held off the Hawks for the rest of the game.
Three Hawks finished in double figures with Eaglestaff leading the way with 13, Norman chipping in 12 and Tsartsidze scoring 11. Tsartsidze also blocked two shots while Eaglestaff had three steals. The Hawks shot 22-for-66 from the field and 9-for-27 from three-point range, six of those treys came in the first half.
