No. 6 Alabama defeated the North Dakota Fighting Hawks 97-90 Wednesday in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
It was a homecoming for forward Grant Nelson, who is a native of Devils Lake, North Dakota. The state’s former Mr. Basketball had a big night, scoring 23 points on 9/14 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds.
“I thought, all in all, Grant played pretty well coming back home,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said.
As a team, the Crimson Tide got off to a slow start, missing 6 of its first 8 field goal attempts and finding itself down 11-6 in the first four minutes of the contest.
The struggles continued throughout the first half, especially from behind the arc. Alabama missed its first 8 shots from the 3-point line and turned the ball over 6 times in the first nine minutes. This led to a 19-12 Fighting Hawks lead with 11:25 remaining in the half.
3-pointers by guards Mark Sears and Aden Holloway settled things down a bit for the Crimson Tide, but Alabama turnovers and efficient shooting by North Dakota helped the Fighting Hawks jump out to a 9-point lead with 8:05 left to play before halftime.
Nelson’s 8 first-half points helped Alabama cut the deficit to 3, and North Dakota took a 38-35 lead into the locker room.
“We got yelled at [at halftime] like we should have,” Nelson said. “I’m sure we’ll continue to get yelled at the rest of this week.”
A pair of made 3-pointers to start the second half continued to fuel the Fighting Hawks’ confidence, as they took a 44-37 lead.
After the North Dakota onslaught, Alabama regained the lead on a 20-3 run, putting the team in control of the game.
The Fighting Hawks would not go quietly, shooting at a blistering 56.3% rate from the 3-point line in the final 10 minutes of the game. This led to the score being 80-78 in favor of the Crimson Tide with 3:32 remaining in the game.
Nelson hit a pair of free throws to swing the game in favor of the Crimson Tide in the final minute. Key layups from both him and Sears helped the Crimson Tide extend its lead and come away with the win.
After the game, Nelson said not to “sleep on those North Dakota boys,” and that “they can really hoop.”
Sears was tied with Nelson as Alabama’s leading scorer with 23 points on 7/14 shooting from the field. He added 5 assists and 3 rebounds to his totals as well.
“The result was good. We got the win,” Oats said. “We didn’t play as well as we need to moving forward.”
The Crimson Tide will return home on Sunday for a matchup against Kent State at noon CT. The game will be streamed on ESPN.
