GRAND FORKS, N.D.—UND point guard Curtis Munlin (Sr., Mishawaka, Ind.) scored a career-high 25 points to lead the ninth-ranked Sioux men’s basketball team to a 98-88 win over Morningside in NCC men’s basketball at the Hyslop Sports Center on Saturday.
Munlin, who scored 16 of his points in the second half, made 8-of-10 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 three-pointers, and converted all six of his free throw attempts. He topped off his night by grabbing a team-high six rebounds, dishing off six assists and making a steal.
UND improved to 13-2 overall and 6-1 in the NCC to remain in second place in the conference standings, a half-game back of first-place South Dakota. The Coyotes are 7-1 in the conference after beating North Dakota State, 84-72, on Saturday.
Morningside dropped to 11-5 overall and 5-3 in the NCC. The Mustangs were led by center Andrew Drevo, who led all players with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Morningside point guard Dusty Wadlington added 21 points.
The game was tied 41-41 at halftime. Except for two ties, Morningside led for the first 13:35 of the game, with its biggest lead eight points (16-8). UND grabbed its first lead with 5:51 to play in the first half when Tom Jacobson (Sr., Mayville, N.D.) hit a three-pointer to give the Sioux a 30-27 lead. The Sioux held the lead until Wadlington tied it at 41 on a layup with two seconds to play in the half.
The teams exchanged the lead six times in the first 10 minutes of the second half, with neither team leading by more than four points during that stretch. Morningside led 55-54 with 11:45 to play, but over the next three minutes the Sioux went on a 15-4 run to take a 69-58 lead with 8:51 to play.
UND then led by as many as 16 points three times before Morningside finally got the margin under 10 again on a Wadlington layup with 1:29 left that made it 87-79, UND. Wadlington got the Mustangs as close as six points (88-82) when he hit a long three-pointer with 1:02 to play.
Morningside was forced to foul in the final minute, and UND converted 10-of-12 free throws—including four by Munlin—to seal the victory.
Munlin was not the only Sioux player to have a career night. Center Brandon Badding (Jr., Langdon, N.D.) scored a career-high 14 points, all of them coming in the first half.
In all, five UND players scored in double figures. Joining Munlin and Badding were guard Jeff Brandt (Fr., Minot, N.D.) and forward Kyle Behrens (Sr., Hayfield, Minn.) with 17 points each, and guard Nigel Jenkins (Jr., Chicago, Ill.), who came off the bench to score 10 points for the second night in a row.
Jenkins hit all three of his field goal attempts and all four of his free throws.
Morningside outrebounded the Sioux, 37-34, but committed 27 fouls while UND committed just 18 fouls. The Sioux went to the free throw line 37 times and made 27 of their foul shots for a 75.0 percentage.
Both teams shot relatively well. UND shot 54.4 percent from the field (31-of-57), while Morningside hit 45.7 percent of its field goal attempts (32-of-70).
UND will take to the road for its next two games, playing at St. Cloud State on Friday and at Minnesota State, Mankato on Saturday.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Morningside vs North Dakota
1/13/01 8 p.m. at Hyslop Sports Center, Grand Forks, ND
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VISITORS: Morningside 11-5, 5-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
12 Dusty Wadlington.... * 8-15 4-7 1-1 0 2 2 3 21 7 3 0 1 79
14 Scott Stokes........ * 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 1 1 0 1 37
40 Matt Schneiderman... * 6-9 0-2 4-4 0 4 4 4 16 1 1 0 0 71
45 Justin Van Meeteren. * 4-14 1-3 2-2 2 1 3 4 11 0 2 0 0 48
51 Andrew Drevo........ * 9-18 2-4 8-9 3 11 14 5 28 1 4 0 3 32
21 Heath Orvis......... 0-3 0-3 0-0 3 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 34
22 Jay Menke........... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 26
34 Jay Simms........... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 1 32
43 Derek Paben......... 2-7 1-4 0-0 0 4 4 5 5 0 0 0 0 38
50 Matthew Drevo....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 32-70 9-24 15-16 12 25 37 27 88 10 11 0 6 400
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-36 44.4% 2nd Half: 16-34 47.1% Game: 45.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-14 35.7% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 37.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 11-12 91.7% Game: 93.8% 0
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HOME TEAM: North Dakota 13-2, 6-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Tom Jacobson........ * 3-7 1-4 2-2 0 3 3 4 9 0 0 0 1 43
12 Curtis Munlin....... * 8-10 3-4 6-6 0 6 6 1 25 6 3 0 1 78
30 Jeff Brandt......... * 6-13 4-9 1-2 0 3 3 2 17 3 0 0 1 49
44 Brandon Badding..... * 5-7 0-0 4-6 1 3 4 4 14 2 2 0 0 46
54 Kyle Behrens........ * 4-14 1-1 8-12 1 4 5 3 17 4 3 1 1 76
20 Jade Jahner......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
32 Ryan Walker......... 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 31
34 Nigel Jenkins....... 3-3 0-0 4-4 1 2 3 0 10 0 0 0 1 36
40 Jerrid Sebesta...... 1-1 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 3 3 1 1 0 0 39
TEAM................ 3 1 4
Totals.............. 31-57 9-19 27-36 8 26 34 18 98 17 9 1 5 400
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-28 50.0% 2nd Half: 17-29 58.6% Game: 54.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 4-11 36.4% Game: 47.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-13 61.5% 2nd Half: 19-23 82.6% Game: 75.0% 2,1
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Officials: Mike Cannon, Duane Fiala, John Kirkeby
Technical fouls: Morningside-None. North Dakota-None.
Attendance: 3077
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Morningside................... 41 47 - 88
North Dakota.................. 41 57 - 98