TULSA, Okla. – North Dakota men’s basketball was unable to finish off Oral Roberts on Saturday night inside the Mabee Center as the Summit League contest, which saw ten tied scores and seven lead changes, went the way of the Golden Eagles as a late three by Issac McBride, just the fourth by the host all night, cushioned ORU’s advantage in the final seconds with the host winning 83-79.
 
Sophomore Mier Panoam scored inside to pull UND to within one at 78-77 and then denied a driving attempt by McBride two possessions later with 58 seconds to play, but the latter would net a cushion triple following an empty opportunity from the Hawks.
 
Three pointers by senior Deng Mayar and a pair from junior Dariyus Woodson aided the Hawks in taking a 53-50 lead as the second half clock neared the 15-minute mark, but the Golden Eagles dominated inside with 50 total paint points and missed just twice inside in the final eight minutes of action after tying the contest at 65.
 
North Dakota led by as much as nine points in the first half which saw the Hawks hit four early three-pointers kickstarted by a far wing trifecta from Amar Kuljuhovic who led UND with a dozen points in the first twenty minutes. After a handful of made three-pointers, the Hawks struggled going 1-for-8 the rest of the way in the first half. ORU controlled the paint with two dozen points which aided the Golden Eagles’ 59.3% shooting clip in 27 attempts from the floor in the first half.
 
The Hawks led for over 18 minutes in the opening half of action, but a scoreless stretch in the half’s final 2:11 and a 9-2 ORU run over the 3:12 sent the host into the intermission with the advantage.
 
North Dakota prepares for a Thursday night matchup in Brookings against South Dakota State, before playing host to Kansas City on Saturday. The Hawks and the Jackrabbits tip off at 7 p.m. on January 16 from inside First Bank & Trust Arena. The action can be seen on Midco Sports and the Summit League Network. Fans can follow the action live with Fighting Hawks men’s basketball radio play-by-play voice Paul Ralston on KSNR 100.3 FM The Cat or on the iHeart Radio app. Live stats for the contest will be available at www.FightingHawks.com.
 
Postgame Notes

• Kuljuhovic led UND with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting with six rebounds and two assists
• Treysen Eaglestaff followed with 15 points and Panoam added 13
• Eaglestaff led with five assists and Panoam matched Kuljuhovic in boards with six
• UND’s 15 offensive rebounds marks the 18^th straight game with 12+ such boards
• UND’s 14 defensive rebounds are a season low
• The Hawks committed just eight turnovers and have committed less than ten in five of their past six games
• UND finished at +12 in points off of turnovers
• North Dakota was unable to absorb 28 points from McBride and 26 points from JoJo Moore
• ORU shot an opponent-best 60.8% from the floor
• The Eagles produced opponent season lows in three-pointers (4) and steals (3)

 
How It Happened
 
First Half
14:13 – UND 12, ORU 10 (ORU +8 paint, 0-of-4 3PT FG)
11:53 – UND 20, ORU 16 (UND 3-of-7 3PT FG)
7:24 – UND 31, ORU 24 (UND 4-of-last-5 FG, UND +4 TOs)
3:49 – UND 37, ORU 34
HALF – ORU 43, UND 42
 
Second Half
15:42 – UND 51, ORU 50
10:39 – UND 61, ORU 60
6:40 – UND 67, ORU 67
5:28 – UND 71, ORU 69
3:55 – ORU 75, UND 73
FINAL – ORU 83, UND 79
 
For more information on North Dakota men’s basketball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmbasketball.

— UND —

GRENORA, N.D.— One man had serious injuries and another man had minor injuries after a crash between two semis Friday morning near this town in northwest North Dakota.

Hunter McLean, a 27-year-old Williston man, was seriously injured after his semi rear-ended the other semi about one mile south of Grenora on Williams County Road 5 around 9:06 a.m. Friday, Jan. 10.

Anthony Brumfield, a 58-year-old Williston man, was driving north on Williams County Road 5 in a 2020 Kenworth semi when he slowed down to turn into a disposal site. McLean, driving a 2015 Freightliner semi, was also driving north behind Brumfield.

As Brumfield began making the left turn, McLean came up over the crest of a small hill, saw the Kenworth semi and began applying the brakes, the North Dakota Highway Patrol reported.

Due to the extremely icy road conditions, McLean’s Freightliner began sliding and struck the rear end of the trailer attached to the Kenworth semi.

McLean was taken by Ambulance to CHI St. Alexis Hospital in Williston for serious injuries. Brumfield sustained minor injuries, the North Dakota Highway Patrol release said.

Both drivers were wearing seatbelts.

A small section of Williams County Road 5 was shut down for about nine hours while the scene was cleared.

The crash remains under investigation.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

BISMARCK — A North Dakota bill could allow children to temporarily live with their mothers in prison.

The North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has requested legislation that would let children reside at the Heart River Correctional Center in Mandan with their mothers.

Senate Bill 2115

would let the DOCR hire staff and develop policy to achieve that goal.

The bill also would prevent the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and its staff from being held liable for any injuries to the children unless “the injury is affirmatively caused by the negligent act of a state employee.”

Mothers would be responsible for their children, including medical expenses, DOCR Director Colby Braun told The Forum. Medical care would have to be sought outside the facility, he said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to work on the bill — a hearing for SB 2115 is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15.

The legislation is focused on mothers who come to Heart River while pregnant, Braun said. If a woman births her child while in custody, SB 2115 would allow the mother and baby to stay together for some time after birth, he said, adding that doing so provides better outcomes for families.

“What we’re trying to do is really support the goal of … making sure that we’re keeping good contact with mom and their children prior to them leaving prison,” he said.

The bill doesn’t limit the age of a child who could live with their mother in prison. That could allow children to spend time with their mothers over a short time period, such as a weekend, shortly before a woman is released from prison, Braun said.

The legislation would give children the opportunity to reconnect with mothers as they prepare to leave prison and return to their families, he said.

The bill doesn’t say how long a child could live in the prison. It’s unclear how much the change could cost the state, according to a fiscal note attached to the bill.

The DOCR is still working on the policy that would detail the logistics of allowing children to live in Heart River. For now, the bill only addresses liability and creates the authority to allow mothers to have their children with them in the prison.

Parental separation due to incarceration can have extreme effects on children, said Wanda Bertram, communication strategist for the

Prison Policy Initiative.

That includes lower educational performance in school, a higher likelihood that children end up in the foster care system and termination of parental rights, the nonprofit said.

“This is all documented to lead to a host of different negative factors in the child’s life,” Bertram told The Forum. “So, anything that can be done to mitigate that is a step in the right direction.”

The nonprofit that researches criminal justice reform has advocated for releasing incarcerated parents of young children, Bertram said. At least a dozen states have made laws addressing family separation.

Sometimes called a nursery prison program, a small number of states allow children to temporarily live with their mothers in prisons.

South Dakota

allows incarcerated mothers to bond with their children for 30 months after the child’s birth.

Some states and the federal government have proximity laws, which set a maximum distance between the facility where a parent is incarcerated and where their children live.

Minnesota

allows mothers who have been sentenced to prison to live at home with their children for up to a year after birth.

The DOCR hasn’t discussed releasing mothers from custody so they could care for children outside of prisons, Braun said.

States have been slow to adopt a program like North Dakota could because they don’t have the facilities to do so, Bertram said.

“Something like a prison nursery program involves a lot of investment in new infrastructure,” she said, noting increasing funds for the prison system can move slowly.

States also typically incarcerate a small number of women, she said. Of the 2,033 inmates who are incarcerated in North Dakota, 260, or 13%, are women, according to data from the DOCR.

“When you’re talking about programs that involve building new infrastructure or allocating resources to new programs, and something that’s going to impact a quite small number of people, it’s understandable why movement on that would be slow,” Bertram said.

Allowing incarcerated mothers to keep their babies with them in North Dakota has been a topic of discussion for “a long time,” Braun said. North Dakota previously didn’t have the space to do it, he said.

“As we’re looking at a new women’s facility, … one of the goals that we had is being able to have a unit where mom and baby could be together,” he said.

Heart River and the Dakota Women’s Correctional and Rehabilitation Center in New England are North Dakota’s only female prisons. Until recently, the New England facility was the state’s only prison for women.

North Dakota plans to

build a 260-bed women’s prison at Heart River

to replace the New England facility. The $161.2 million project was approved in 2023 and is expected to take three years to complete.