The UND men’s basketball team’s hopes of a Summit League regular season title went by the wayside after they lost to the first place SDSU Jackrabbits with a score of 72-62 on Thursday, Feb. 29. 

The two sides traded buckets to start the game and the score was 9-8 in UND’s favor. The Hawks rattled off a six-point run led by two Eli King (So.) assists and took control of the game early on. 

The Jackrabbits stopped the bleeding and pulled the game within one possession at 22-21. UND would respond with a seven-point run capped off by a Brady Danielson (5th) three-pointer to take the lead 29-21.  

With less than five minutes to play in the half, SDSU needed momentum going into the break. The Jackrabbit’s top player, Zeke Mayo, stepped up to the plate and orchestrated a 9-3 run to close out the first 20 minutes. 

UND held a 33-30 lead at halftime, but the crowd could sense the inevitable disaster. 

It only took SDSU three minutes to snatch the lead from UND, and the Summit League leader would control the rest of the game. 

Mayo scored or assisted on eleven consecutive points to give the Rabs a 44-37 lead. 

Midway through the second half, UND made a push to stay in the game. The Hawks would do just that, and with Tsotne Tsartsidze (5th), the score was knotted at 50. 

After tying the game, Treysen Eaglestaff (So.) hit a shot from beyond the arc to give the home crowd hope that UND would stay in the running for a regular-season title. 

Mayo would make that hope short lived, hitting a three and assisting on another to take the momentum right back.  

South Dakota State controlled the final five minutes and defeated North Dakota 72-62. With the win, the Jackrabbits claimed the Summit League regular season title and the top seed at next week’s conference tournament. 

BJ Omot (So.) and Tyree Ihenacho (Sr.) both had 14 points on Thursday, with Ihenacho dishing out six assists as well. 

Eaglestaff was the only other Hawk in double figures, putting up 12 points on 5-11 shooting. 

Amar Kuljuhovic (Jr.) scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds, two of them on the offensive end. 

Tsartsidze added eight points and five rebounds. 

The Fighting Hawks bounced back on Saturday, defeating the South Dakota Coyotes with a score of 95-66 to close out the regular season on Senior Day.  

Ihenacho led UND in scoring against USD with 24 points. Tsartsidze, UND’s lone senior, scored 14 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in his final game at the Betty. 

Following other action in the Summit, UND finished third place in the conference. UND will play the Omaha Mavericks on Sunday, March 10 in the first round of the Summit League tournament at the Denny Samford PREMIER Center at 8:30 p.m. 

UND split the season series with Omaha this year, with both teams winning at home. 

Garrett Webber is a Dakota Student Section Editor. He can be reached at [email protected].