SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Tech Trailblazers struggled on both ends of the floor as they fell to the North Dakota Fighting Hawks 67-52 on the road on Friday.
North Dakota outscored Utah Tech 34-29 in the first half and 33-23 in the second half. Cameron Gooden led the Trailblazers with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, and 1-of-3 from the three-point line in 36 minutes. Isaiah Pope was the only other Utah Tech player to reach double figures with 12 points, two assists, and three steals on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor.
The rest of the scoring for Utah Tech included seven points from Noa Gonsalves, four points from Tanner Christensen, three points from Dancell Leter, two points from Jacob Nicolds, and one point apiece from Trey Edmonds and Frank Staine.
Final from Grand Forks.
Cameron Gooden finished with a game-high 22 points, while Isaiah Pope added 12 in his first start of the year.
Trailblazers (2-4) will play @FullertonMBB on Saturday at 12 noon. #UtahTechBlazers | #WACmbb pic.twitter.com/FDTaa1rS9V— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 25, 2022
As a team, Utah Tech shot 35% from the field, 16% from the three-point line, and 50% from the free-throw line. In the first half, they made 44% of their field goal attempts, 20% from the perimeter, and 54% at the foul line. The second half wasn’t better than the first half, shooting 28% from the floor, 15% from beyond the arc, and 43% at the free throw line.
For North Dakota, BJ Omot led the way with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Caleb Nero had 15 points and five assists, while Brady Danielson added 11 points. The Fighting Hawks shot 50% from the field, 31% from beyond the arc, and 14-of-15 at the free throw line.
Utah Tech dropped their record to 2-4 on the season. They will finish their Grand Forks, North Dakota road trip on Saturday, November 26 at 12:00 pm MT on ESPN+.
The Trail Blazers will return to Utah for road games against in-state squads Utah State on Thursday, December 1 and Saturday, December 3. That will end a seven-game road trip. Utah Tech will play their second home game of the season on Friday, December 9 against Chapman University.
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