OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha improves to .500 in Summit League play Thursday night following a 69-63 win vs. North Dakota. Three Mavericks were in double-figures and were led by
Frankie Fidler on a 17-point performance.
With the win, Omaha improves to 7-11 overall, 3-3 in the league.
Leaders for Omaha
Fidler led Omaha with 17 points on 5-of-12 from the field. He scored one from deep and went 6-of-6 at the line. He grabbed another eight boards falling shy of the double-double.
Marquel Sutton was right behind Fidler with 16 points. He led the team with nine boards. Both had a pair of assists, while Fidler added two steals and a block.
JJ White scored 11 points on 5-of-8 from the field. He tallied five rebounds and four assists.
Dylan Brougham had an active night on defense with four blocks and five rebounds.
Leaders for North Dakota
The Fighting Hawks were led by Treysen Eaglestaff Thursday with 13 points on 4-of-11 from the field. He hit three from deep. Tsotne Tsartsidze completed the double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
UND's double-figure scoring efforts were capped with 12 points off the bench from Matt Norman. He shot 50 percent from the field. All four makes came from beyond the arc.
Team Stats
Omaha shot 54 percent from the field and held North Dakota to 33.3 percent. The Mavericks shot 66.7 percent from three-point range only having taken six total attempts sinking four. The Fighting Hawks finished the night 9-of-27 from three.
Omaha dominated the glass, 42-28, but both teams only scored six points each on the second chance. The Mavericks led in points in the paint (+12) and points off the bench (+4). The Fighting Hawks led on points off turnovers (+15) and on the fast break (+4).
Inside the First Half
Thursday's game got off to a rocky start for both teams and remained tied 4-4 at the first media time out of the night. White went for back-to-back buckets for Omaha out of the break for a four-point lead just over five minutes in. The Fighting Hawks scored two straight from deep to answer White and shifted the game back in their favor.
The Fighting Hawks used a 10-2 run that spanned a three-minute stretch that was capped by a three-pointer from Norman at the 8:38 mark. Sutton and Fidler helped break up the UND scoring, but Norman stayed hot from the arc and nailed another with 7:23 to go for a nine-point lead. The Mavericks battled back with the help of
Ja'Sean Glover who used two quick baskets to cut the lead to three twice, but it was a
Luke Jungers three in the final minute that got Omaha within two by the half. UND led, 31-29.
Inside the Second Half
Right out of the gates of the second half Fidler hit a three-pointer for the Mavericks to regain the lead, and they held on to it until Tsartsidze put two away at the line. The Fighting Hawks rebuilt their lead back to nine just under the 15-minute mark with help from Omot, Eaglestaff, and Tsartsidze. White and Fidler responded with six straight points for Omaha, and the Mavericks got back within three of UND twice by the 12:39 mark. Brougham and Fidler then scored on two consecutive possessions for Omaha to erase the deficit for a one-point lead at the 11:35 mark.
The teams traded the lead again over the next two minutes, before Suttons jumper at the 9:09 mark captured the Omaha lead for good. Omot would hit a three just shy of the six-minute mark to get UND back within one of Omaha, but the Mavericks were able to build their lead up to eight on a Sutton jumper with 3:30 to play. The Fighting Hawks sent the Mavericks to the line late in a last ditch effort to regain the ball, but Omaha held on and won, 69-63.
Game Notes
-Fidler scored double-figures for the seventh straight game.
-This was Sutton's second straight game grabbing a career-high nine rebounds.
-Thursday marked the third time this season Brougham recorded at least four blocks in a game.
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Kennedy Brown made his first career start.
Up Next
The weekend closes with a Saturday matinee between the Mavericks and Bison. Omaha and North Dakota State tipoff at noon at Baxter Arena.
