North Dakota holds on to edge Northern Colorado 74-73

Feb 20, 2016, 05:54 pm

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Quinton Hooker scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds as North Dakota held on to edge Northern Colorado 74-73 on Saturday.

Hooker was 9 of 17 from the field and made all seven of his free throws. Corey Baldwin added 13 points for the Fighting Hawks (13-12, 8-6 Big Sky) who forced 23 turnovers, a school record.

North Dakota trailed 25-17 with 7:08 to play in the first half but a 3-pointer by Adam McDermott and another by Connor Avants in the final five minutes helped the Fighting Hawks climb to a 33-29 advantage at the break.

Baldwin sank a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half to extend North Dakota's lead to 45-33 with 15:58 to play and the Fighting Hawks held on despite a late-game Northern Colorado rally.

Jeremy Verhagen scored 10 points with four rebounds for the Bears (8-18, 5-10) who have lost five straight.