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.

Utah Valley opened the game 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.

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.

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).

Wolverine men’s basketball loses late lead, falls to Samford

Dominick Nelson scored a team-high 21 points and Carter Welling recorded a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead Utah Valley in an 84-76 road loss to Samford on Wednesday night at the Pete Hanna Center.

Utah Valley falls to 4-2 on the season, while Samford improves to 6-2 and extends its home winning streak to 23 games, the fourth-longest active streak in the nation.

Utah Valley managed Samford’s full-court press effectively for much of the game but struggled with it down the stretch. The Wolverines built a 15-point lead, 57-42, with 16 minutes to play, but an 18-3 Samford run in the final 5:11 helped the Bulldogs secure the win. UVU committed 23 turnovers, leading to 35 points for Samford, as the Wolverines were outscored 42-19 in the closing minutes.

Nelson matched his career high with 21 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free throw line. He added seven rebounds, one block, one assist, and a steal in 37 minutes of play.

Welling registered his second consecutive double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, along with two assists, two blocks, and two steals.

Tanner Toolson added 15 points, including three three-pointers. He also pulled down three rebounds and dished out three assists.

Trevan Leonhardt was perfect from the field, scoring 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting, including 1-of-1 from beyond the arc and 4-of-4 at the free throw line. He flirted with a triple-double, grabbing a career-high eight rebounds, dishing out seven assists, and collecting four steals.

The Wolverines shot an impressive 50% (29-of-58) from the field and 29.4% (5-of-17) from three-point range but struggled at the free throw line, going 65% (13-of-20). Samford shot 47.9% (34-of-71) from the floor and 35.7% (10-of-28) from beyond the arc.

UVU outrebounded Samford 41-32.