UND Athletics
CHENEY, Wash. – Junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff, in his 40th consecutive start for North Dakota, led three other Fighting Hawks in double-figure scoring with two dozen points, senior forward Amar Kuljuhovic followed with 20 points, a UND-best for the second-year Hawk, and the Hawks hit 50% of its shots from the floor on Wednesday night against Eastern Washington in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. However, the host Eagles also shot 50% including a 12-for-22 effort from beyond-the-arc and edged UND in rebounding to win the 15th meeting, and fifth straight between the two programs, 87-81 at Reese Court. The loss is the third-straight for the Hawks who fall to 3-5 on the season.
It was a matchup worthy of two conferences aiming to showcase their hoop talent as the action featured nine tied scores and 15 lead changes. UND held its last lead of the night with 12:20 to play as Kuljuhovic worked a hook shot to give the Hawks a 60-59 advantage. Just over three minutes later, the contest was tied for the final time as sophomore guard Mier Panoam, one of the four Hawks in double figures, nailed a corner three ball to even the contest at 68. Panoam’s make was part of a larger UND effort that saw the visitors connect on eight of their ten shots in-between the under-12 and under-8 media timeouts.
Yet, the Hawks’ journey to the under-4 media was rather cold as UND struggled from the floor amidst a scoring drought of 5:09 which saw the Eagles push out front 80-73. The Hawks pulled to within a point of the deficit in the final two minutes as Eaglestaff hammered a triple from the right wing and then saw Dariyus Woodson, the fourth Hawk in double-figure scoring, clean up an Eaglestaff miss from deep on the ensuing possession with a putback bucket that brought UND to 80-79 of the EWU lead.
EWU’s lead grew to six and eventually eight as the Eagles’ Vice Zanki scored five critical points, including a top-of-the-key three that hit the rim three times, over a 47-second span in the final 1:15 that distanced the host from the Hawks.
EWU controlled the boards in the opening twenty minutes with nine offensive rebounds. Both sides made 14 first-half shots and combined for nine made three-point shots which ended with UND leading 42-40 at the intermission.
North Dakota is set for just their second home game of the season on Saturday as Weber State comes to Grand Forks for UND’s hosting portion of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. It will be the 16th meeting all-time between the two programs with the Wildcats holding a 10-5 series lead.
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. The action can be seen on Midco Sports/Summit League Network and live stats for the contest will be available at www.FightingHawks.com.
Postgame Notes
- The Hawks’ 50% shooting clip is a season-best effort, and its 81 points are the most against an NCAA opponent this season
- UND committed a season-low nine turnovers
- Panoam converted a pair of and-1 opportunities during the game to run his season total in the category to a team-leading four
- UND made 19 of its 28 free throws, the second-most makes in a game this season along with matching the season-high output in attempts, with Panoam connecting on a season-high six including a pair of instances in which he sank both attempts to tie the contest in the first half
- Eaglestaff led UND in scoring for the 40th time in his career, which also marked the 11th time he eclipsed 20 points for the Hawks
- Eaglestaff matched his career-high in shot attempts with 19 which he first recorded against Cal St. Fullerton on December 1, 2023
- Kuljuhovic finished in double figures for the 20th time in his UND career and matched his UND-high in shot attempts with 11
- Woodson matched his UND-best scoring effort with a dozen points as he finished in double figures for the fifth time this season
- Panoam’s 16 marks the third time in the last four games that the guard has reached 16 points and the sixth time this season he has recorded 10 or more
- Kuljuhovic led UND with nine rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, and junior Eli King followed with six
- EWU’s dozen trifectas as the most allowed by UND this season
- The Eagles grabbed an opponent-high 15 offensive rebounds
How It Happened
First Half
15:57 – EWU 12, UND 9 (EWU 4-of-5 shooting)
10:46 – EWU 22, UND 21 (UND 5-of-last-7 FG)
6:56 – EWU 29, UND 28 (EWU 7 off. rebounds)
3:40 – EWU 34, UND 32 (UND no FGs last 4:08)
HALF – UND 42, EWU 40
Second Half
17:57 – UND 47, EWU 42
15:51 – UND 51, EWU 48
11:55 – EWU 61, UND 60 (UND 5-of-last-5 FGs)
7:42 – EWU 70, UND 68 (UND 8-of-last-10 FGs)
3:47- EWU 80, UND 73 (UND 0 FG last 5:19, EWU5-of-last-6 FG)
1:42 – EWU 80, UND 79 (UND 6-0 last 2:06)
FINAL – EWU 87, UND 81
Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | | Jacob Pumphrey, FightingHawks.com
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