K-HEART SPORTS – TUESDAY – 11/21/23
STOCKTON, Calif. (UND) – The North Dakota men’s basketball team won its third straight game Monday night, defeating Pacific 73-71 in a nail biter that was close throughout. Tsotne Tsartsidze led the Fighting Hawks with 19 points, including the go ahead layup with 21 seconds left to put UND up 72-71, and then the final point of the game on a free throw in the final seconds. Eli King and B.J. Omot each had 12 points, and Amar Kuljuhovic reached double figures for the first time as a Fighting Hawk with ten. King led the team in rebounds for the second game in a row with eight and Treysen Eaglestaff led with six assists. Omot blocked three shots and King had two of the seven UND steals.
Both teams started slowly offensively, but a triple from Omot gave the Fighting Hawks a 10-6 lead at the 15:24 mark of the half. From there the pendulum swung the other way with a 13-3 run by Pacific—which was halted by a 10-0 run from NoDak with a three from King and a dunk from Omot to bring the green and white within one, then a triple from Tsartsidze to go back ahead and then a layup from King to make it 23-19. The teams went back and forth in the half, and ultimately a three-point play from Amar Kuljuhovic knotted it up at 35, which is how the two teams went to intermission. Pacific came out of the locker room with the momentum in the second half, building a 50-42 lead just over five minutes into the second half. But NoDak chipped away, owning the next five minutes of the half with a 12-4 run that tied the game up at 54. An alley-oop from Elijah Brooks to Omot gave UND their first lead of the second half with 8:17 remaining. But Pacific took the lead back, going ahead 65-60 with 4:24 to go. Tsartsidze answered with a three and an Eaglestaff layup tied it at 65 with 2:39 left. Two free throws from King put the green and white back ahead 70-69 with 57 ticks left, Pacific went back ahead briefly at 71-70 before Tsartsidze finished off the game. The Fighting Hawks will head to the Natural State for the Central Arkansas Classic on Saturday, Nov. 25 and 26 to take on New Orleans University and Eastern Michigan.
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NDSU MENS BASKETBALL
FARGO, N.D. (NDSU) – Sophomore Lance Waddles scored a career-high 26 points to lead the North Dakota State men’s basketball team to a 101-72 victory over Wisconsin-Stout on Monday evening inside the Scheels Center. Waddles made seven of his first eight shots and finished with five three-pointers on his way to a career-best 26 points. NDSU sophomore Tajavis Miller recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Damari Wheeler-Thomas added 15 points and five assists for the Bison. NDSU improved to 4-2 on the season. The Bison shot just under 58 percent for the game, including 10-of-28 (36 percent) from beyond the arc. NDSU led by as many as 22 in the first half, using a 14-2 run late in the half to go ahead 53-31. NDSU will travel to Phoenix, Ariz., this weekend to play Grand Canyon University on Saturday.
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NDSU WOMENS BASKETBALL
GREELEY, Colo. (NDSU) – North Dakota State women’s basketball picked up a victory on the road Monday night defeating Northern Colorado 67-60 at Bank of Colorado Arena. Junior Abbie Draper scored a career high 19 points to lead the way for NDSU in a wire-to-wire victory. Draper, who’s previous career high was 14 as a freshman, scored 15 of NDSU’s 35 first half points and went on to score 19 overall, as she finished on 9-of-11 shooting, including a three pointer, along with a team high three steals, two rebounds and a block defensively. The Bison improved to 2-2 on the season, while Northern Colorado fell to 2-2.
Heaven Hamling, who was held scoreless in the first half, and freshman Abby Krzewinski, who made her first career start, joined Draper in double figures, scoring 10 points each. Hamling added three rebounds and two steals, while Krzewinski added three rebounds, a team high three assists, and a block. After NDSU won the opening tip, Krzewinski gave the Bison the lead on the opening possession. After Elle Evans forced a turnover, Draper would add a three pointer on the next possession and the Bison never trailed. Evans matched Draper with a team high three steals, Krzewinski with three assists, and also had a team high five rebounds to go along with eight points. The Bison led by as much as 10 in the first half and carried a 35-28 lead into the break. Late in the third period, Hamling made a layup to give NDSU a 14-point lead, it’s largest of the game. A 16-3 run by Northern Colorado to close the third and start the fourth cut NDSU’s lead to one at 55-54. However, the Bison outscored the Golden Bears 12-6 over the final 6:27 to secure NDSU’s first road win of the season. The Bison will now continue their road swing with the third of four-straight games away from home coming against Harvard at the San Diego Classic on Friday. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. CT.
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WOLVES-KNICKS
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 points, and the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New York Knicks 117-100 on Monday night. Minnesota (10-3) is 6-0 at home — tying a franchise record to start a season — and has won nine of its past 10 games. That stretch included seven straight wins, the franchise’s longest streak since 2004 — which was the last year the Wolves made it past the first round of the playoffs. Rudy Gobert scored 16 points for the Wolves. Minnesota forward Jaden McDaniels left with a sprained right ankle in the first quarter and didn’t return. That opened up extended minutes for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who finished with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. Naz Reid added 10 points as the Wolves’ bench outscored New York’s reserves 43-30. Jalen Brunson scored 25 points and Julius Randle had 21 for New York, which shot 34.8% (32 of 92) to Minnesota’s 51.3%. The Knicks (8-6) came in allowing a league-low 104.9 points per game. The Timberwolves host Philadelphia on Wednesday.