UND’s Carson Shanks plays at Betty Engelstad Sioux Center earlier this season. Photo by Nicholas Nelson/The Dakota Student. 

The UND men’s basketball ended its season last Saturday when Northern Colorado handed North Dakota a 72-71 loss in Greely, Colo.

For a team looking to end an 8-game losing streak, it fought hard to overcome a tenacious Bears team.

Quinton Hooker notched a career-high 28 points and contributed to UND’s comeback in erasing the 14-point deficit in the second half.

“We had to play our tails off in the second half to get back in the game,” UND coach Brian Jones said. “We dug ourselves a hole in the first half because we missed some layups and open shots, and they made their layups and hit some rhythm shots. Those started to fall for us in the second half, and I thought we really defended at a high level to get back in the game.”

Northern Colorado’s free throw with 2.6 seconds left in the game was enough to earn it the No. 5 seed in the Big Sky tournament, while North Dakota ended its season on the court.

Staff report