FARMVILLE, Va. -- UND won its second road game of the season Saturday with a 67-59 win against Longwood (Va.) University.
UND received 19 points from sophomore guard Aaron Anderson and 18 from Patrick Mitchell as the Sioux improved to 12-14. Longwood, a team headed to the Big South Conference next season, dropped to 9-17.
The win wrapped up a six-game road swing for the Sioux, who finished 2-4.
In a game that took only 90 minutes of real time to conclude, Anderson hit a crucial jumper from the baseline with the shot clock expiring to put UND ahead by five with 1:32 to play. It was the third straight game Anderson led the team in scoring as the Sioux defeated Longwood in non-conference play for the second straight season.
Anderson and Mitchell iced the victory at the free-throw line where they made six in a row in the final minute. Mitchell did his damage from beyond the arc as he drilled four 3-pointers and also added two blocks to become just the second player in UND history to score 1,000 points, pull down 500 rebounds and block 150 shots in a career. Chris Gardner (1990-94) is the other player to accomplish the feat.
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The Lancers, who suited up only seven players, raced out to a 7-0 lead only to see UND answer with an 8-0 run. Longwood, however, responded with a 10-2 run.
The Sioux managed to pull even by halftime, reeling off six straight over the final four minutes to make it a 28-28 contest.
UND would expand that run to 11-0 after opening the second half on a 5-0 spurt thanks to a 3-pointer by Mitchell and a putback by sophomore Troy Huff, who scored all eight of his points after halftime.
"We had no pop to us in that first half," UND coach Brian Jones said. "So, we challenged our guys in the locker room and they responded. We set the tone early in the second half and were in control the whole way. They made a couple of runs, which they are capable of doing because of the way they shoot the ball, but our bench came up big for us and we made a couple of big shots down the stretch."
UND pushed its lead to double digits just over four minutes into the half thanks to back-to-back baskets by junior Jordan Allard.
Allard made it a 50-38 contest with a free throw at the 12-minute mark, but 10 straight by Longwood put the Lancers quickly within two points again. Martiz Washington scored the final eight of that run as he finished with 16.
UND regrouped to score the next nine points as Mitchell's fourth trey of the game made it a 59-48 contest with 6:09 to play. With the Sioux going cold from the field, the Lancers scored eight straight over a four-and-a-half minute stretch to pull within a possession at 59-56, but Anderson's timely make from the baseline put his team up by five.
Longwood senior Antwan Carter, who scored a game-high 21 points, missed a jumper on the Lancers' next possession that was rebounded by Huff. With only four team fouls, Longwood had to quickly put UND in the bonus, but Anderson and Mitchell made the free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
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Sophomore Brandon Brekke helped UND hold a 28-26 advantage on the glass with a team-high eight rebounds. He also added eight points as his 4-for-4 effort from the foul line helped the Sioux shoot 78.6 percent for the game (11-for-14).
UND now returns home for three straight games, starting with Saturday's contest against Great West Conference opponent Houston Baptist.
UND 67,
LONGWOOD 59
UND 28 39 -- 67
Longwood 28 31 -- 59
UND -- Aaron Anderson 6-9 4-4 19, Troy Huff 3-7 0-0 6, Jamal Webb 1-4 0-2 2, Brandon Brekke 2-3 4-4 8, Patrick Mitchell 6-14 2-2 18, Lenny Antwi 2-5 0-0 5, Jordan Allard 3-4 1-2 7, Mitch Wilmer 1-1 0-0 2, Josh Schuler 0-2 0-0 0, Doug Archer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 11-14 67.
Longwood -- Washington 5-10 2-2 16, Taylor 1-5 0-0 2, Carter 10-17 0-0 21, Carey 5-13 1-1 13, van der Kooij 3-6 0-0 7, Shockley 0-0 0-0 0, Havenstein 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 3-3 59.
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3-Point Goals -- North Dakota 8-27 (Mitchell 4-10, Anderson 3-5, Antwi 1-4, Schuler 0-2, Huff 0-3, Webb 0-3), Longwood 8-23 (Washington 4-8, Carey 2-7, van der Kooij 1-4, Carter 1-4). Rebounds -- North Dakota 28 (Brekke 8), Longwood 26 (Carter 8). Assists -- North Dakota 15 (Webb 4), Longwood 20 (Carey 6).
