1 week ago
2
Jan. 1—GRAND FORKS — With 21 seconds left, Oral Roberts' Ty Harper took down UND's Eli King hard in the open court.
UND's 6-foot-10, 239-pound forward George Natsvlishvili immediately raced to King's defense and went face-to-face to speak his mind to Harper, who was later ejected.
Advertisement
Cooler heads prevailed but the 1-2 punch of King and Natsvlishvili already delivered the knockout blow.
Natsvlishvili matched his season-high with 19 points, while King added a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) in beating Oral Roberts 72-61 to start Summit League play Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
"Nobody is doing this to my teammate, especially King," Natsvlishvili said. "He's a really good teammate and a really good friend. Nobody is going to do that."
The Hawks led by 17 at halftime but had that lead whittled down to 53-50 after Ofri Naveh hit a floater with 6 minutes, 40 seconds left in the second half.
Advertisement
The final five minutes were a roller coaster for the Hawks, who survived missing seven of eight free throws during one stretch.
UND reserve guard Reggie Thomas sparked the counterpunch. The 6-foot-1 senior elevated for an offensive rebound and putback to push UND's lead back out to 57-52 with 5:15 to go. He then forced a turnover on the defensive end, was fouled in the open court and sank two free throws to give the Hawks a seven-point cushion.
"It just brought so much energy and glad I could do that for us," Thomas said.
With 90 seconds left, Martins Kilups cut the UND lead to 66-61 by scoring inside.
Advertisement
UND answered with its biggest basket of the game. King drove to the rim across the lane, finishing high over ORU 6-10 center Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams. The basket gave UND a 68-61 lead with 1:09 to play.
It was King's first field goal since the game's opening moments, where he willed the Hawks to a lead behind 4-for-4 shooting to start the game. However, King missed his next six shots before nailing the key basket.
"It just seems to be a guy who makes a play when you need a play," UND coach Paul Sather said. "Offensively, it's not always perfect for him. It just seems, throughout the game, he finds his moments. He's just such a good downhill-attack finisher. He made that play and had that attack that caused the flagrant foul. There are so many things he does defensively and on the glass. His steady way of who he is ... he's the same exact guy. He could have 40 out there and not change his facial look. If he's 0-for-10, he's going to have that mentality. You want those guys out there competing."
Yamanouchi-Williams led the Golden Eagles with 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting, while Harper, ORU's leading scorer, had just six points on 2-for-11 shooting. He was a team-worst minus-18 during his nearly 29 minutes of play.
Advertisement
UND's major advantage came in bench points: 30-6. Natsvlishvili led with 19 as he was fouled 13 times and sank 9-for-16 from the foul line. Thomas added seven points and was plus-16 in 15:24 of action. Marley Curtis, who played just under 18 minutes, was a team-best plus-24 as he added four points and seven rebounds.
Garrett Anderson added 11 points for the Hawks, while Zach Kraft and Greyson Uelmen each chipped in nine.
"It feels great," Thomas said. "Getting that first conference win is great ... going up from here."
UND, 7-10, now hosts South Dakota State at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Betty.
English (US) ·