Edwardsville, Ill. – The University of North Dakota used a 9-0 run late in the second half and a season-high field goal percentage to secure a 57-50 victory over SIU-Edwardsville on Super Bowl Sunday at the Vadabalene Center.
Senior Travis Bledsoe (Minneapolis, Minn.) scored eight of his team-high 11 points in the second stanza to lead UND (5-17) to its third straight win over SIUE (3-21). Bledsoe went 3-for-3 from the field as the Sioux connected on 20-of-36 attempts (55.6 percent) as a team.
With the score tied 37-37, redshirt freshman Nick Haugen (Rockford, Minn.) made a lay-up and junior Chris Clausen (Adelaide, Australia) buried his second 3-pointer of the game to spark a 9-0 run to break what was the 11th tie of a tightly-contested ballgame.
“Both teams are in similar situations with the transition and are fighting, trying to earn our way out here,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “We had some guys step up and hit some big 3pointers for us and we were just able to find a way in the end to pick up a win on the road.”
The Cougars whittled their deficit back to within three points on a trio of occasions after the 9-0 run by the Sioux, but could never draw closer. That was in large part to sophomore Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa), who buried a 3-pointer with the shot-clock winding down to put UND up six with less than 30 seconds to play.
SIUE failed to convert on its next possession and sent Bledsoe to the line where he made a free throw to secure the victory for UND. It was the third win on the road for the Sioux in their last four contests.
Senior Travis Mertens (Devils Lake, N.D.) added 10 points for the Sioux and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Mitchell and Clausen each had eight points and Haugen added seven points to round out a balanced scoring attack for UND.
Mitchell scored the first five points of game to put the Sioux up quickly, but SIUE eventually built a five-point advantage midway through the opening half.
Sophomore Mark Yelovich, who led all scorers with 18 points, hit a jumper to give SIUE that 15-10 lead, but the Sioux erased the deficit with a 7-0 run over a five-minute stretch that was capped by Clausen’s first trifecta of the game.
Both teams made eight field goals in the opening 20 minutes, but combined for 20 turnovers that kept the scoring down. Mertens led UND with six points and tied the game for the sixth time with a free throw in the closing seconds.
The Sioux struggled from the stripe, making only 5-of-11 attempts in the first half, while SIUE went 4-for-7.
The UND defense limited the home team to 27.1 percent shooting from the floor (13-for-48) – a season low for a Sioux opponent this season. The Sioux also outrebounded the Cougars 32-27 and have achieved that feat in all five of their victories.
Next up for the Sioux is a return home for its first two Great West contests at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND will play New Jersey Institute of Technology on Thursday and Chicago State on Saturday as part of doubleheaders with the women’s team.
