Dixie State made its NCAA Division I debut a memorable one as the Trailblazers came away with a hard-fought 74-73 victory over North Dakota Wednesday night inside the Burns Arena.

The Trailblazers (1-0) scored on their first possession of the new era when Frank Staine found Jacob Nicolds for a transition lay-in just 19 seconds into the game. The two sides see-sawed back and forth from there through four ties and five lead changes, before the Fighting Hawks (0-2) outscored DSU 10-5 over the final seven minutes of the frame en route to a 29-24 halftime lead.

North Dakota quickly extended that lead to nine points with two buckets to open the second half and owned a 42-33 lead after a Seybian Sims 3-pointer with 15:08 remaining.

Dixie State then turned up the defensive intensity, which led to eight-straight Blazer points, capped by a Cameron Gooden lay-up that trimmed the deficit to 42-41. DSU kept that momentum going, outscoring North Dakota 28-9 over a span of nine-plus minutes, to extend to its biggest lead of the night at 61-51 following two Nicolds free throws with 5:45 left.

DSU forced five turnovers and held the Fighting Hawks to just 4-of-11 shooting over that stretch. The Blazers would push their lead to as many as 12 points at 68-56 with 2:45 to go, though they needed to hold off a late UND rally to escape with the win.

North Dakota rattled off a 14-5 run to make a one-possession game at 73-70 after two Tyree Ihenacho free throws with eight seconds left. Gooden then split a pair of free throws, and that one make proved to be the difference as UND guard Caleb Nero hit a three at the final horn.

"I was happy with how hard we competed and how hard we played," DSU Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "I thought we had a few jitters and were a little too excited to play in the first half, and that led us to trying to do too much individually.

"I thought we played better as a team in the second half, especially with our defense," Judkins added. "We got down nine points, but our defense allowed us to come back and take that [68-56] lead. We adjusted really well to what they were doing to us in the second half."

Staine co-led all scorers with 19 points, one off of his career-high, with 14 of those points coming in the second half. The sophomore hit on 6-of-12 from the floor to go with five assists, two rebounds, one steal and one block.

Meanwhile Nicolds tied a career high with 17 points on 5-of-8 from the floor and pulled down a co-game and career-high eight boards. Nicolds also did much of his damage after halftime as he tallied 13 of his points in the second half.

Dixie State shot 45.8 percent from the floor (27-of-59), which included a 54.8 percent clip (17-of-31) in the second half. DSU hit on 26 of its 49 shots from inside the perimeter, which offset a 1-of-10 effort from 3-point country. The Blazers also connected on 70.4 percent (19-of-27) from the foul line, though they were outrebounded by a slim 38-37 margin.

"Overall I'm happy we got to play and happy we got a win," said Judkins. "There is no better way to start a season than with a win, especially to get your first Division I win in your first Division I game."

Mitchell Sueker led three UND players in double figures with 19 points, while Filip Rebraca added 15 and Sims finished with 11 points. The Fighting Hawks wound up shooting 48.1 percent (26-of-54) overall, though they were done in at the foul line (14-of-25; .560), including eight misses in the second half.

Dixie State will close its brief homestand with a Saturday date vs. Saint Katherine. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.