The University of Mary men's basketball team came into Tuesday's game with UND on a roll after an impressive pair of games last weekend.
The Marauders dropped a one-point decision to No. 15 Nebraska-Kearney on Friday, followed by a victory over 18th-ranked Northwest Missouri State on Saturday.
UND's defense, however, put a stop to Mary's offense - as well as the Marauders' winning ways.
UND picked up its defensive pressure and shook off a poor final three minutes to grab a 68-57 victory over Mary in front of 1,551 Betty Engelstad Sioux Center fans.
"I thought for most of the game, we guarded really well," UND coach Brian Jones said. "We talked a lot about discipline on the defensive end."
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Emmanuel Little led UND with 15 points and seven rebounds.
The Sioux, 3-4 overall, never trailed in the game, but UND was unable to pull away in the second half. Mary's Zach Dosch hit two free throws to cut UND's lead to 51-45 with 5 minutes, 38 seconds to go.
Sioux guard Josh Doyle took over from there to give UND some breathing room. Doyle nailed a trey from the left corner. On the next possession, Doyle grabbed a steal in the Mary backcourt and started a fast break. At the top of the key, Doyle put on the brakes and hit a pull-back 3-pointer for a 59-45 advantage.
"Josh hit a couple of threes that really got us going," Jones said. "He has that presence and poise about him. He's one of those veterans who knows what it takes."
Doyle's back-to-back treys appeared to ice the victory for the Sioux. UND turnovers on five straight possessions down the stretch proved otherwise.
UND turned the ball over 18 times, led by Ervin Youmans' seven turnovers.
Mary's Geoff West scored on three drives to the hoop after Marauder steals between the 2:20 mark and the 1:06 mark. Jordan Engelhardt also added a bucket off a turnover in Mary's 11-0 stretch that was capped by Bill Shetler's 3-pointer with 45 seconds to go that cut UND's lead to 63-57.
But UND sealed it with free throws down the stretch. Travis Bledsoe, Doyle and Mark Kruse did the damage from the free-throw line, where the Sioux were 19-for-25 in the game.
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Apart from the last three minutes, UND's offense played well in the second half.
"The key was patience," Little said. "Like the coaches always say, we don't have to run and gun."
Dosch led the way for Mary with 13 points and eight rebounds. Andy Miller and Shetler chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Marauders, who dropped to 2-4 overall.
Mary struggled from 3-point land, going 2-for-16.
"Our defense was on," Little said.
