Box Score
RENO. Nev. (March 10, 2017) – North Dakota’s rise through the ranks of Division I and Big Sky Conference basketball has been swift.
The Fighting Hawks started and finished with a flourish to take a 69-64 win over Idaho in the semifinals of the league tournament Friday night at the Reno Events Center. North Dakota will face the winner of the Weber State-Eastern Washington semifinal in Saturday’s championship at 5:35 p.m. PST. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The winner will earn the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Top-seeded North Dakota (21-9) moved up to the Division I level for the 2008-09 season. Since joining the Big Sky for the 2012-13 season, the Fighting Hawks have advanced at least as far as semifinals in all four of its appearance in the postseason.
Fourth-seeded Idaho, which still entertains hope of a postseason bid, fell to 18-13.
North Dakota blew out Portland State 95-72 in the quarterfinals on Thursday and appeared well on the way to another lopsided win with a scorching start.
The Fighting Hawks hit on 9 of their first 13 shots while bolting out to a 26-9 lead. Sophomore post Conner Avants scored six points during the opening salvo and sophomore guard Geno Crandall added a pair of 3-pointers.
Idaho, though, used a 14-6 run to end the half to get within 37-31 at intermission.
Junior guard Victor Sanders scored eight points as the Vandals used a 15-2 run to go on top 50-44 with 12:00 to play. That was the high-water mark for Idaho.
North Dakota responded with a 12-1 burst to regain the lead at 62-51 and never trailed again. Crandall scored eight of those 12 points.
The Vandals battled back to knot the game at 63-63 on a pair of free throws from Chad Sherwood, but Crandall answered with a pair of his own. The Fighting Hawks followed that up with a trey from Corey Baldwin for a 68-63 lead and held on for the win.