North Dakota uses good shooting to defeat Southern Illinois Edwardsville 57-50

North Dakota defeats SIU-Edwardsville 57-50

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — Travis Bledsoe scored 11 points and Travis Mertens had 10 points and seven rebounds as North Dakota defeated Southern Illinois Edwardsville 57-50 on Sunday.

North Dakota (5-17) shot 56 percent from the field, making 20-of-36 shots, to win the nonconference game. That was better than the Sioux’s performance at the free-throw line, where they were 12-for-22, or 55 percent.

The Sioux scored almost half of their points, 28, in the paint.

Mark Yelovich led all scorers with 18 points for SIUE (3-21), which has lost 15 of its last 16 games. The Cougars made just 13 of their 48 shots, or 27 percent. They were just 5-for-24 (21 percent) in the second half.

The score was tied at 23 at halftime.