Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats might not want to schedule another road matchup for one of his players to go home again soon.
Not if they’re all going to go how it went against North Dakota.
From start to finish, the Fighting Hawks stayed with Alabama. The Crimson Tide had to battle until the final minute, outlasting North Dakota 97-90 on Wednesday in Grand Forks, North Dakota in what was a homecoming of sorts for Grant Nelson.
Nelson and Mark Sears led Alabama with 23 points a piece.
Here are takeaways from the game between No. 6 Alabama (9-2) and North Dakota (4-9).
Sloppy start on the road
Alabama ending the first half on a turnover felt fitting.
Sears threw the ball out of bounds as the Crimson Tide managed not to score any points on its final possession before halftime. As a result, the Fighting Hawks led 38-35 at the break.
Alabama had 13 turnovers in the first half. That made it difficult to get anything much going offensively as the Crimson Tide struggled to make shots.
Alabama went 0-for-8 from deep to start the game as well as 3-for-12 overall.
Those offensive stumbles, as Alabama tried a variety of lineups, allowed for North Dakota to stay right in it.
The Crimson Tide fixed its turnover problems in the second half, finishing with 14. But those first-half issues prevented Alabama from squashing any hopes of a North Dakota upset early.
Treysen Eaglestaff gives Alabama all kinds of problems
The Crimson Tide isn’t going to forget Treysen Eaglestaff.
The Bismark, North Dakota native made play after play and shot after shot. Just as Alabama looked like it was starting to gain traction and pull away in the second half up 11, Eaglestaff led the charge to fight back.
After Alabama took a 64-55 lead with 10:57 left, Eaglestaff went to work. He scored North Dakota’s next four buckets, two of them from deep.
A few minutes later, Eaglestaff hit his seventh triple of the game, tying it up 78-78 with 4:06 left.
Eaglestaff scored a career-high point total, finishing the game with 40 points as he went 15-for-30 and 8-for-18 from deep.
Grant Nelson with double-double in homecoming
The Devils Lake, North Dakota native shined in his return to his home state, and Alabama needed it. Especially with what he did late.
Nelson, who transferred to Alabama last season from North Dakota State, scored to break an 85-85 tie within two minutes left, then he grabbed a defensive rebound on the other end of the floor. Immediately, he drew a foul and hit his free throws to give Alabama a four-point lead with 90 seconds left.
One more defensive rebound a moment later, and Nelson hit double-double territory. That gave him 10 rebounds. Nelson finished the night with 23 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and three blocks.
Nelson’s efforts helped Alabama close out the victory. He hit the last two free throws of the game to close out the win.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
