BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— Carter Welling scored 15 points and Osiris Grady added 10 to lead Utah Valley in an 83-63 loss to North Dakota State, wrapping up play at the Samford Thanksgiving Invitational at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The setback concluded a stretch of three games in three days for the Wolverines, who finish their four-game southern road trip with a 2-2 record with wins over Murray State and West Georgia. Utah Valley now sits at 4-3 overall on the season.
 
UVU led once, 6-5, three minutes into the game before North Dakota State seized control and never relinquished the lead, fueled by 14 made three-pointers.
 
Welling led UVU with 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, while hitting 5-of-6 at the free-throw line. He added five rebounds. Grady tallied 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting and pulled down three rebounds. Tanner Toolson and Trevan Leonhardt chipped in seven points apiece, while Ethan Potter had six. Kylin Green and Cory Wells came off the bench to score five points each.
 
Utah Valley shot 44.4% (24-of-54) from the field, including 25% (5-of-20) from deep. North Dakota State countered with 55.3% (26-of-47) shooting overall and an impressive 51.9% (14-of-27) from beyond the arc. Despite the loss, UVU outrebounded the Bison 29-25 and outscored them 43-24 in the paint.
 
The Wolverines will continue their seven-game road stretch with a trip to California to face Stanford on Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. MT. The game will air live on the ACC Network and the Wolverines Sports Network (103.9 FM/960 AM in Utah County and 98.3 FM/105.1 HD2 in Salt Lake County).
  How It Happened
First Half
Utah Valley opened with a 6-5 lead three minutes into the game. North Dakota State responded with a 20-6 run over the next 10 minutes to take a 25-12 advantage with 6:55 left in the half. UVU countered with a 9-0 run to pull within four, 25-21, at the 4:24 mark. However, the Bison closed the half on an 11-3 run, heading into the break with a 36-24 lead.
 
Second Half
North Dakota State extended its lead to 15, 47-32, with 16:29 remaining. UVU cut the deficit to 11, 52-41, with a 9-5 spurt highlighted by a Kylin Green three-pointer. The Wolverines kept the gap at 11, 61-50, with 6:53 to play, but NDSU responded with an 8-4 run to push its lead to 15, 69-54, under the five-minute mark. The Bison then closed the game on a 14-9 run to secure the 83-63 victory.