by Josh McSwain
DENVER – Treysen Eaglestaff scored a career high 33 points to lead North Dakota men’s basketball team to a 92-78 win over the Denver Pioneers Thursday night, with 27 of his points coming the second half. The Fighting Hawk sharpshooter made 5-8 shots from downtown and 10-11 shots from the foul line.
Eli King also set a career high with 18 points, including a team high 16 in the first half. Amar Kuljuhovic notched his seventh double-double of the season with ten points and a team high 14 rebounds. Tyree Ihenacho led the team with four assists, while King and Tsotne Tsartsidze each had three. B.J. Omot blocked three shots, while King blocked six and Ihenacho one.
In stark contrast to the first half against Kansas City, both teams lit up the scoreboard in the first stanza. UND grabbed its first lead at 6-5 when Omot drove from the free throw line in for a dunk, the first of two monstrous dunks from the sophomore in the half. Later in the half, King drove the baseline and found Omot coming down the lane for a slam. King hit four three pointers in the half, setting a new career high for threes in a game in the first 20 minutes. Brady Danielson made a fantastic save on a loose ball which made its way to King, who hit from the top of the arc. His fourth three beat the buzzer as UND ran an inbounds play with 1.4 seconds left and King it from the corner to give the Fighting Hawks a 41-37 lead going into halftime.
The game remained neck-and-neck during the opening minutes of the second half, with UND holding the lead until a three made it a 54-52 game in favor of the hosts with 11:57 to go. A couple of minutes later a layup from Kuljuhovic gave the lead back to the green and white at 57-56. Shortly after a three from Eaglestaff made it 60-58 for NoDak, who would never trail again in the game. Later from a 66-66 tie, Eaglestaff hit from beyond the arc again and from there the Fighting Hawks led the rest of the way.
