{"id":278021,"date":"2023-12-04T10:49:46","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T16:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=278021"},"modified":"2023-12-04T10:49:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T16:49:47","slug":"fighting-hawks-stumble-68-62-at-highlanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=278021","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Hawks Stumble 68-62 At Highlanders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Riverside, Calif. (UND Athletics) \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>The North Dakota men\u2019s basketball team finished its two-game road swing in the Los Angeles area on Sunday evening, falling 68-62 to UC Riverside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B.J. Omot<\/a> paced the Fighting Hawks with 19 points, with Eli King<\/a> reaching double figures for the second consecutive game with 13. Amar Kuljuhovic<\/a> also reached double figures with 12 and led the team with six rebounds. Deng Mayar<\/a> led with two blocks, while Omot and Treysen Eaglestaff<\/a> tied with three assists. Tsotne Tsartsidze<\/a> got both of the team\u2019s two steals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jumpers from Omot and Kuljuhovic gave the green and white an early 4-2 lead, and the first half was tightly contested throughout. Down 15-9 later in the half, Kuljuhovic made threes on back-to-back possessions to knot it up and then Omot hit a foul shot to go back up at 16-15. In the final minutes of the half, Omot hit a layup to put UND up 24-23, which was the last lead UND would hold in the game. UCR took a 31-26 lead into intermission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omot made it a four point game after a three-point play on a dunk, but momentum swung back to UCR\u2014who went up double digits. NoDak chipped away as the half went on, climbing back within single digits at 50-41 with a three from Eaglestaff. King followed with a three, and then Eaglestaff made a layup to make it a four point game at 50-46. But UND could not take back the lead at any point in the half\u2014the closest they came was three points at 65-62 with 12 seconds to go, but UCR scored the final three points to finish the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Dakota will return home for two games\u2014this Saturday against Portland University and then Waldorf (Iowa) the following Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postgame Notes <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n