A solid shooting and rebounding night for North Dakota combined with a tough shooting night for Seattle University led to the end of the SeattleU men’s basketball team’s 10-game winning streak as the Fighting Sioux held on for a 73-68 victory Friday evening at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Over a six-and-a-half minute period in the first half, scored 18 unanswered points to take a 24-4 lead with 8:36 remaining before halftime. Seattle University went on a 17-4 run of its own to pull within seven (30-23) with 1:41 left in the first half, but the Fighting Sioux scored the last four points of the half to take a 34-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.
SeattleU pulled to within five points at 37-32 five minutes into the second half, but answered with a 16-5 run in the next five-and-a-half minutes to extend its advantage to 16 points at 53-37. Back-to-back three-pointers by Austen Powers (, ) kept in the game, but the Fighting Sioux made enough free throws in the final minutes to earn a split of the regular season series.
Powers shot 7-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-8 from the three-point line, in leading SeattleU with 18 points and eight rebounds. Taylor Olson (, ) scored a career-high 15 points in just 12 minutes on the floor, while Michael Wright () earned 10 points, five rebounds, and two blocked shots.
Senior guard Shaun Burl (, ) contributed seven points, three rebounds, four assists, and seven steals, and Aaron Broussard () added eight points and five rebounds off the bench. Turning the ball over only four times the entire night, shot only 36.4 percent from the field, including 7-of-30 from the three-point line.
(14-11) was led by O.J. Harrison, who shot 8-of-11 from the field in picking up a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Daniel Harkins finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while Travis Bledsoe came off the bench and added 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals to the winning effort.
The Fighting Sioux dominated the boards, winning the rebounding battle 44-29, and shot 50 percent (21-of-42) from the field and 25-of-39 (64.1 percent) from the free throw line. was able to overcome 20 turnovers which led to 23 points for .
(18-7) heads to Vermillion, S.D., for a contest against the Saturday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. local time (6 p.m. Seattle time). SeattleU then returns home and prepares for the March 3 contest against the nationally-ranked Washington Huskies at Bank of America Arena.