DENVER (UND Athletics) – It was nearly a déjà vu situation for the University of North Dakota men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon, but it was Denver who held on for the 85-81 overtime win from Hamilton Gymnasium in the Mile High City.
UND (6-15, 5-7 Summit League) once again saw a double-digit lead in the first half disappear before rallying from behind late in the second half to force overtime for the second time in as many days; however, it was Denver (2-13, 1-7 Summit League) who went 5-for-5 in the extra session to come away with the victory.
Filip Rebraca led the way for the Fighting Hawks with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting while pulling down five rebounds and recording a rejection, but the junior was limited to just under 24 minutes due to fouling out for the second straight game. It marks the first time in his career that Rebraca has been disqualified in back-to-back games during his tenure as a Hawk, having suffered only two foul outs in his previous 80 games entering this weekend.
Ethan Igbanugo had another strong performance in an overtime game, scoring 15 points, dishing out three assists and picking up two steals in a game-high 40 minutes of action. The junior was hampered by six turnovers, however, with UND committing 16 on the afternoon for the second straight game.
Tyree Ihenacho made it six of his last seven games in double figures with 14 points, while adding six assists, two boards, a block and a steal. Seybian Sims posted his first double-double in a UND uniform with 13 points and 11 rebounds, also rejecting a shot and swiping a ball. Bentiu Panoam was the final Hawk in double figures with 11 points.
Similar to yesterday’s contest, North Dakota got off to a strong start on both ends of the ball to quickly jump out to a 10-4 lead at the game’s first media timeout. Panoam was the catalyst to the early burst for the visitors, knocking down a pair of threes and helping the Hawks to a 3-for-5 start from the field.
UND once again built a double-digit lead in the opening stanza, with Sims and Ihenacho each striking to push the advantage to 13, 19-6, with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half. Fouls were starting to cause issues for the visitors, however, with Rebraca picking up a pair of offensive fouls to send the junior to bench at the under-12 media timeout.
Denver started to rally, embarking on a 9-0 run to cut the UND lead to four, but Ihenacho took over on the offensive end with his passing skills. The freshman helped extend the lead back to 11 with a pair of sweet feeds, first for an Igbanugo three and then for a Caleb Nero layup off a steal, to make it 29-18 in favor of the Hawks with just over five minutes to play in the first half.
North Dakota continued to knock down threes as the first half wore on, connecting on seven of its first 13 attempts to build a lead as high as 14 late in the first half, but Denver closed the frame with six straight points to send the Fighting Hawks to the locker room with 45-37 advantage.
As a team, UND hit 15-of-25 from the field for a .600 clip through 20 minutes while also draining seven of those 13 triples. Iheancho led the way at the halfway point with 10 points and four assists for the visitors while Rebraca scored eight and Nero had seven off the bench.
After the visitors struck for the first four points of the half to move back in front by 12, Denver answered again by holding the Hawks scoreless for over five minutes and scoring eight straight points to cut the lead down to four, 49-45, with 13:15 left in the contest. UND had held the Pioneers to a 0-of-7 start from the field before the 8-0 spurt by DU was aided by a 4-for-6 stretch.
Denver jumped in front for the first time, 55-53, for the first time since it was 2-0 with just over seven minutes to play in the contest. North Dakota was running into foul trouble once again for the second straight day, with Mitchell Sueker and Rebraca each picking up four personal fouls with seven minutes to go.
Rebraca snapped a 0-for-13 stretch from the field for the Hawks that spanned nearly nine minutes of game action to cut the lead Denver lead to just three, 58-55, with five minutes remaining on the clock. UND kept battling back, with Panoam drawing a flagrant foul on the Pioneers after a steal to allow the Hawks to tie the game at 62 with 3:17 to play.
The teams went back-and-forth over the next few minutes, with Denver taking a 67-66 lead with just over a minute to play off a fifth personal foul call on Rebraca on a deadball rebounding play, but Sims answered with a deep three to put the Hawks right back in front, 69-67, with 45 seconds to play.
Denver tied the game on the ensuing possession before both teams missed a chance to win the game as we headed to overtime for the second straight game.
There weren’t many stops in the extra session, with both sides going back-and-forth with the lead, but Igbanugo gave UND its largest lead of the overtime period, 79-77, with a basket and the foul with 1:36 to play. However, Denver rallied with six straight of its own to move in front by four, 83-79, before a pair of makes at the line cut it to two, 83-81, with 10 seconds to play.
The Pioneers salted away the game at the free throw line to hand the Fighting Hawks their fifth split of conference play this season.
North Dakota will return home for the final time in league play with a pair of showdowns against South Dakota on Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. from the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
