Rorie, Montana stay hot beating North Dakota 76-70

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Ahmaad Rorie had 20 points and Fabijan Krslovic scored 16 helping Montana to its fourth-consecutive win with a 76-70 victory over North Dakota on Saturday night.

Krslovic's jumper with 13:55 left gave Montana (10-9, 5-1 Big Sky Conference) a 42-41 lead it would never give up. Krslovic followed with a tip-in, Jack Lopez had a 3, and Rorie's jumper extended the lead to eight in just a couple of minutes.

Corey Baldwin's 3 with 6:44 to go brought North Dakota (9-7, 4-2) to with 59-55. Two minutes later his 4-point play — Walter Wright fouled him on a made 3 — cut Montana's lead to 66-63.

Then, with 2:17 left, Carson Shanks made a layup to bring the Fighting Hawks to within one. But Rorie's 3-point play and jumper with 41 seconds left ended North Dakota's comeback attempt.

Geno Crandall led North Dakota with 28 points on 10-for-13 shooting and Baldwin added 11.