Alabama basketball is known for its potent offense, quick shooting and a lot of threes. When they are on, it is tough for any team in the country to keep up. But UND was up to the task in last nights basketball crossover as the Crimson Tide traveled north to Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks came into this game 0-10 versus ranked opponents since elevating up to Division I, looking to pull of the biggest win in program history, and for about 39 minutes it looked like we might see it.
UND defense made Alabama look out of sync in the first half, and was able to post 38 on offense taking a three point lead into the half. Alabama came out firing in the second half extending their lead to 11, and it felt like this was the point when the Crimson Tide would separate themselves. But the basket must have looked three sizes bigger for UND shooters as they brought it back within three-points with less than a minute remaining. The Fighting Hawks were forced to foul and made free throws by Alabama would secure the 97-90 victory, escaping a historic upset.
Alabama spread the wealth on offense having five players in double-digits, three of which came off the bench. Grant Nelson, a North Dakota Native was poised to impress in his homecoming, and he did just that scoring 23 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Mark Sears also left his fingerprint on this one scoring 23 of his own. On the UND side, it was the Treysen Eaglestaff show as he singlehandedly tried to win it for the Fighting Hawks. His stat line stands out amongst the rest, going 15-30 from the floor, 8/18 from three and finishing with 40 total points. Dariyus Woodson had 15 off the bench for UND.
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