Box Score
RENO, Nev. (March 9, 2017) – The North Dakota Fighting Hawks have a wicked first punch.
The Fighting Hawks hit 12 of their first 14 shots to deliver a knockout blow in their 95-72 win over Portland State in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament Thursday afternoon at the Reno Events Center.
The top-seeded Hawks (20-9) advanced to face the winner of the Montana-Idaho quarterfinal in Friday’s semifinals at 5:35 p.m. PST. The eighth-seeded Vikings finished their season at 15-16.
North Dakota had six players reach double figures in scoring, led by senior guard Corey Baldwin’s 18 on six 3-pointers. Preseason MVP Quinton Hooker, also a senior guard, added 17 and sophomores Geno Crandall and Cortez Seales chipped in 17 apiece.
Those 12 made field goals came in the first 8½ minutes of the game and gave the Fighting Hawks a 29-13 lead before the Vikings knew what hit them.
The lead grew to 49-23 on back-to-back layups by 7-footer Carson Shanks, a trey by Baldwin and a slam by Crandall. With 4:20 to play in the first half, the Fighting Hawks had made 19 of 26 from the field.
Once the Vikings were able to make a few shots, they employed a full-court press that gave UND some trouble going into the break. Bryce Canda hit consecutive 3-pointers to cut the gap to 49-35 at intermission.
The game got out of hand midway through the second half when UND extended its lead to 21 on a pair of free throws by Seales. An 11-0 run pushed the lead to 30 at 87-57 with 3:53 to play. Crandall had a 3-pointer and a drive for a deuce during the burst that put the game on ice.
The game finished on a sloppy note as both coaches emptied their benches.
Canda led the Vikings with 12 points and Deontae North added 11. Portland State made just 3 of 21 attempts from deep and shot 40 percent overall.