North Dakota beats Idaho State 81-58 for 1st Big Sky win

Jan 12, 2018, 02:59 pm

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Cortez Seales scored 14 points, Marlon Stewart and Conner Avants added 13 apiece, and North Dakota snapped an eight-game skid with an 81-58 win over Idaho State on Thursday night.

Dale Jones scored 11 points with three 3-pointers for the Fighting Hawks (5-11, 1-4 Big Sky) who made 10 3-pointers and shot 52.5 percent from the floor in beating the Bengals for the 11th straight time.

Jones hit back-to-back 3s and North Dakota led 12-7 on Avants' jumper, but the Bengals tied it at 23 on Balint Mocsan's 3-pointer with 9:26 left. Seales' layup on the next possession put the Fighting Hawks up for good and they led 41-29 at halftime after the Bengals didn't make a field goal in the final 6:36.

Seales scored eight points in an 11-1 run for a 52-31 North Dakota lead. Billy Brown hit back-to-back 3s and the Fighting Hawks led by 20 points with 1:15 to play.

Novak Topalovic scored 12 points and Gary Chivichyan added 11 off the bench for the Bengals (8-7, 3-1), who saw their four-game win streak end.