Hawks down Oral Roberts behind strong start, success from stripe

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND ATHLETICS)– North Dakota men’s basketball was due a strong start and the Hawks put one together on Saturday afternoon inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as UND downed Oral Roberts 88-77 behind a trio of 20-point scoring efforts and a successful day at the stripe to snap a three-game Summit League losing streak and improve to 10-18 overall with a 4-9 mark in conference play.

Each side connected on three of their first seven shots down through the first media stoppage, but it was the Hawks that dictated the tempo early on which saw UND block two Golden Eagles field goal attempts and force a steal to lead 11-8 just over four minutes in. Within the next eight minutes of action, Oral Roberts would suffer a two-minute scoring drought, while the Hawks made half of their attempts from the floor, did not commit a turnover, and sat at +10 in paint scoring with a 28-21 lead at the under-8 timeout.

Just under four and a half minutes later, North Dakota’s advantage grew to ten behind a 58% rate from the floor and a +16 effort inside. In the final stretch of the first half, North Dakota engineered a 13-2 run and took advantage of a three-minute scoring drought by the Golden Eagles to build a 48-30 lead that would shrink slightly to 48-35 as ORU took advantage of a pair of last second possessions prior to the intermission.

In the opening twenty minutes, the Hawks made good on four and-1 opportunities with junior guard Eli King accounting for half of those as a pair of acrobatic efforts to the rack were highlights among his first half scoring clinic. Senior forward Deng Mayar added an and-1 finish and senior forward Amar Kuljuhovic converted a hoop and the harm chance.

Following the break, Kuljuhovic cashed in on another three-point play, as part of a 9-0 UND run to start the second half, just prior to the under-16 media stoppage and the effort put UND up by its largest margin of the afternoon at 22 points with a 57-35 lead. Mayar added a second successful and-1 moments before King hammered a pair of three-point shots from the near wing on consecutive possessions to keep the Hawks out front 70-53. ORU’s 11-point deficit at the final horn is the closest the Golden Eagles would get to the Hawks down the stretch as North Dakota shot 11-for-13 from the charity stripe over the final five minutes of the game.

The Hawks return to action in a week and will play host to bitter in-state rival North Dakota State on February 22. The longtime Peace Garden State foes meet for the 311^th time. The Bison edged UND 87-82 on January 25 in Fargo. Tip-off from inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center is set for 1 p.m.

The action can be seen on Midco Sports and the Summit League Network. Fans can follow the action live with Fighting Hawks men’s basketball radio play-by-play voice Paul Ralston on KSNR 100.3 FM The Cat or on the iHeart Radio app. Live stats for the contest will be available at www.FightingHawks.com.

Postgame Notes

• North Dakota netted a season-high 29 free throws: the most from the stripe since making 32 at Kansas City on February 18, 2023
• UND’s 90.6% success rate is its second highest this season and the highest in a game with 20 or more attempts since shooting 93.3% (28-of-30) vs. Denver on January 23, 2020
• The Hawks wrangled 14+ offensive boards for the 18^th time this season and finished with 40 or more rebounds for the 11^th time this season
• North Dakota committed just seven turnovers marking the fifth time this season that the Hawks have committed seven or fewer and the seventh time in Summit League play that UND has committed nine or fewer
• Of the seven turnovers, only one was committed in the first half in addition to the Hawks purposefully giving one away on its final possession due to a five-second difference in the shot clock and game clock
• UND’s 88 points are the fifth most this season, third most against a SL foe and the eighth game with 85+
• Eighteen of UND’s points came from successful and-1 opportunities
• King matched his career high scoring effort with two dozen points which he first set against South Dakota State on February 15, 2025
• King’s effort was highlighted by a career-high in floor attempts (17), three-point FG made (4) and three-point FG attempts (6)
• King finished a rebound shy of a double double as did Kuljuhovic
• Kuljuhovic’s tough inside effort resulted in his first career 20-point game as a Hawk and he matched his single game high in field goals made (8)
• Eaglestaff was perfect from the line setting career highs in attempts (12) and makes (12) from the stripe and is the first Hawk with a dozen makes from the line in a game since B.J. Omot made 13 at Kansas City on February 18, 2023
• Eaglestaff finished with his 18^th 20-point game
• The Hawks put three players with 20 or more points into the box score for the first time since a February 8 matchup against Omaha last season
• Mier Panoam scored 13 points and added six rebounds and two assists
• Mambourou Mara recorded his third two-block game this season with his first denial coming on ORU’s first possession and helping the Hawks set the tone defensively

How It Happened

First Half
15:44 – UND 11, ORU 8 (Each team 3-of-7 FGs; UND 2 BLKs, 1 STL)
11:50 – UND 20, ORU 14 (UND 4-of-last-5 FGs; ORU 2:11 scoring drought)
7:59 – UND 28, ORU 21 (UND 50% FG, 0 TOs, +10 paint)
3:39 – UND 40, ORU 30 (UND 4-of-last-4 FGs, 58% FG, +16 paint)
0:58 – UND 48, ORU 30 (UND 13-2 run over 3:18; ORU 1-of-last-7 FGs, 3:03 scoring drought)
HALF – UND 48, ORU 35

Second Half
17:16 – UND 57, ORU 35 (UND 9-0 run to open 2H)
15:43 – UND 57, ORU 37
11:49 – UND 61, ORU 46 (UND 2-of-last-11 FGs)
5:47 – UND 75, ORU 59 (ORU 5-of-last-7 FGs, 2:00 scoring drought)
3:10 – UND 79, ORU 64
FINAL – UND 88, ORU 77