(UND Athletics) St. Paul, Minn. – North Dakota fell 75-62 to St. Thomas inside Schoenecker Arena on Monday night. The Tommies went on a 13-0 run in the second half and the Fighting Hawks were unable to overcome it, despite trimming the deficit to five points on two occasions after that run.
Parker Bjorklund led all scorers and netted 29 points to lead the Tommies (10-4, 1-0 SL). He had seven points in the first half and took over the game in the final 20 minutes, putting in 22 points.
Riley Miller was the only other player for St. Thomas in double figures, finishing with 24 points and knocking down five triples. Miller was also a perfect 7-for-7 at the stripe.
B.J. Omot paced the Fighting Hawks (6-8, 0-1 SL) with 14 points, making a team high six shots. He also grabbed four rebounds.
Elijah Brooks poured in 10 points, going 3-for-3 from the field and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. He also hauled in four boards.
Brady Danielson and Mitchell Sueker were the next closest players to double figures with nine points apiece.
UST only had five turnovers in the game and held a 22-4 advantage in points off turnovers. UND had 14 turnovers in the game, with seven in each half. North Dakota won the rebounding battle by a 35-19 margin.
St. Thomas made 52.8 percent of its shots, added nine makes from deep and went 10-for-13 at the charity stripe. North Dakota shot 48.1 percent, made five triples and finished 7-for-8 at the line.
The game was knotted up at 30-30 at intermission. North Dakota weathered a 7-0 deficit early and battled back to take a 19-18 lead off an Omot jumper with just under eight minutes to go before halftime. The teams traded the lead five times in the first half and UND’s largest lead was three at 30-27 off a Matt Norman jumper in the final seconds. Miller knocked down a triple at the buzzer to even the game up at the break.
The Fighting Hawks won the game down low early, holding advantages in rebounds (24-6) and points in the paint (14-4) at intermission. North Dakota made 46.4 percent of its shots, while St. Thomas hit 44.0 percent of its scoring attempts. Omot and Sueker were the leading scorers for UND with nine and seven points apiece. Miller was the top Tommie, netting 16 points in the first 20 minutes.
St. Thomas pulled away in the second half, using a 13-0 run and holding North Dakota scoreless for over three minutes to build a 49-39 lead with 12:37 remaining. The Fighting Hawks trimmed the deficit to five points twice after that, including with 3:44 left after a 4-0 run from Brooks to bring the tally to 64-59. UST outscored UND 11-3 to close out the game.
North Dakota will continue Summit League play on Wednesday, visiting Western Illinois at Noon.
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