VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball held a double-digit lead at halftime Wednesday night, but a second half surge from North Dakota pushed the Fighting Hawks past the Yotes 72-71.
 
After the Coyotes built a 37-26 lead at halftime, the Fighting Hawks stormed out of the break with a 16-4 run over the first six minutes of the second half to take a 42-41 lead. North Dakota's largest lead of the half came at the midway point after a Greyson Uelmen 3-pointer to give UND a 56-48 edge. Uelmen was the catalyst for the UND offense in the final 20 minutes, as he scored 19 of his game high 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the second half.
 
The Yotes chipped away at the lead, keeping the score within four points over the final six minutes. USD pulled within one point twice in the final minute and a half off an and-one from Silas Bennion and a Vince Buzelis bucket, but UND answered each bucket to maintain the advantage. South Dakota had a pair of chances in the closing seconds on a 3-point attempt from Jordan Crawford and a putback from Buzelis, but both were off the mark and UND secured the 72-71 win.
 
Defense paved the way in the opening frame as the Yotes held the Fighting Hawks to 9-of-30 from the field. Cameron Fens led the way with 10 points and five rebounds, while Crawford and Buzelis had nine and eight, respectively. South Dakota began to pull away late in the half with a 7-0 run fueled by an Ethan Kizer 3-pointer and four straight from Crawford. One of many dunks in the first half from Fens, followed by a pair of free throws from Uzziah Buntyn gave USD its largest lead of the night, 37-24, with 54 seconds left. South Dakota went into halftime with a 37-26 lead off a 46.4 field goal percentage.
 
Fens notched his third straight double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Buzelis set a new season-high with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go with five rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks.
 
South Dakota converted 45.0% of their field goal attempts to UND's 44.4% but struggled from deep going 4-of-25 from beyond the arc.
 
South Dakota is off this weekend and will hit the road for its next two games starting next Thursday night against in Denver in Denver, Colorado.
 
Notes

• South Dakota moves to 14-13 on the season, 6-6 in the conference and 10-5 at home
• Cameron Fens has recorded a double-double in three straight games
• Vince Buzelis set a new career high with 17 points
• Four of the Coyote starters scored in double-figures