by Tyler Wells
ELON, N.C. – North Dakota went 17-for-20 at the line, including 10-for-13 in the final eight minutes, to defeat Elon 77-73 at the Schar Center on Thursday night.
Both teams faced foul trouble and were in the bonus with eight minutes left in the game. The Fighting Hawks were 12-for-12 at the line late before three missed free throws allowed the Phoenix to claw their way back into the game. Following the missed free throws, UND went 5-for-5 at the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds to hold on for the 77-73 victory.
In the final 30 seconds, Elijah Brooks and B.J. Omot were both 2-for-2 at the stripe.
Mitchell Sueker just missed a double-double for UND (2-2), throwing down 15 points and grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. He was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line and also dished out a team-high five assists.
Treysen Eaglestaff (Cheyenne River Sioux) netted 15 points. The true freshman provided a spark for the Fighting Hawks in the first half, coming off the bench and scoring 10 points to lead a 13-3 UND run.
Omot had his third double digit performance as a Hawk, chipping in a season-high 12 points. He went 4-for-4 at the line, including 2-for-2 in the final 30 seconds.
Brady Danielson just missed double figures, adding nine points and a 3-for-3 outing at the charity stripe.
Caleb Nero chipped in eight points while knocking down two triples. He went on a 5-0 run of his own in the early moments of the second half to help UND extend its lead to 48-39.
Statistically, North Dakota held the edge in points off turnovers (15-14), points in the paint (32-28) and second chance points (14-6). UND also won the rebounding battle by a 33-31 margin. The Fighting Hawk bench scored 39 points, while the Phoenix reserves scored 21.
North Dakota knocked down 26 shots on 58 attempts for a shooting percentage of 44.8. Elon shot 45.8 percent (22-for-48) from the floor. UND buried eight triples while EU knocked down seven shots from deep.
North Dakota began the game with a 9-2 lead, but it was knotted up at 13-13 midway through the opening half. Shortly after that point, Eaglestaff would check into the game which led to a 13-3 run to put the Hawks up 29-21 at the under four-minute media timeout. That run was powered by Eaglestaff scoring 10 points, highlighted by a pair of triples.
UND closed the half making eight of their last 10 shots, including a buzzer beater from Sueker to put the Hawks up 37-27. Elon also went scoreless for the final 2:05 of the half. NoDak started the game 1-of-12 from deep but made five of the final six from beyond the arc to help the North Dakota have momentum at intermission.
Coming out of intermission, Elon went on an 8-0 run to trim the North Dakota lead to 37-35 with just over 16 minutes to go. Sueker came out of the timeout with a 4-0 run of his own and scored the first six points of the half for the Fighting Hawks to extend the lead back to 43-37. Nero would add a 5-0 run of his own moments later to push the lead to 48-39.
The Phoenix chipped away at the deficit and would trail by only six (56-50) at the under eight media timeout. North Dakota made its free throws late to lead 65-56 at the under four media timeout.
Elon would once again chip away at the North Dakota lead, but the Hawks finished 5-for-5 at the line in the final seconds to earn the 77-73 win.
