Basketball - Men's - News

A TALE OF TWO HALVES; BULLDOGS BURY DRAGONS 68-48

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Going into halftime Saturday night, head coach Gary Holquist and the University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team trailed Minnesota State University-Moorhead by just three points, in what looked to be a nail-biting contest with the score at 36-33.

Until the referee blew the whistle for the start of the second half.

When the second frame began, the Bulldogs (7-3 overall; 2-0 NSIC) outscored the Dragons 35-12, en route to drubbing MSU-Moorhead 68-48 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match before 525 rowdy fans at the Alex Nemzek Hall in Moorhead, Minn.

The game started off back-and-fourth, with the score tied at 11 midway through the first, until the Dragons (3-3; 1-1) racked up an 11-3 run within the next three minutes to take a 22-14 advantage with eight-and-a-half minutes to play.

However, the Bulldogs battled back to score 19 of the last 33 points of the half, as they narrowed the margin to just three, trailing MSU-Moorhead 36-33 walking into the locker room at the break.

Then, it was a whole new ball game.

In the beginning of the second frame, UMD bolted out in stylish fashion, going on an eye-popping 27-8 run - including a stretch of 11 straight points - to take a controlling 60-44 command with just a mere six-and-a-half minutes left on the clock.

The Bulldogs then scored eight of the last 12 points to end the game, as the Dragons were left shaking their heads, after just scoring a dismal 12 points throughout the entire second half of play.

In what led to their third-consecutive win, UMD buried 12 of their 23 shot attempts from the floor, in shooting 52 percent in the second frame, while MSU-Moorhead shot a grim 19 percent from the field, as they managed to sink just four of 21 shots.

In total, the Bulldogs also snagged 38 rebounds, 13 more than the host Dragons, who collected just 25, while UMD turned the ball over just seven times compared to MSU-Moorhead's 17.

UMD was guided by their senior center, John Vaudreuil, who poured in a game-high 15 points and seven rebounds, while the captain shot 50 percent (6-of-12) from the floor, added a pair of steals, had an assist and blocked shot all in his game-leading 35 minutes of play.

Junior guard Ron White had another solid evening, as he scored 14 points, snagged three rebounds, nabbed three steals and blocked a shot. The Chicago, Ill. native also shot 45 percent (5-of-11) from the field and sank four of his five shots from the charity strip in the win.

In just 15 minutes of play, junior forward Brian Sykora put up some stellar numbers, as the captain dispatched 10 points and seven rebounds. The native of Bloomington, Minn. also blocked a shot, while he shot a team-high 57 percent (4-of-7) from the hardwood and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.

Senior guard Steve Klass continued to stay hot from long-range, as the captain drained three of his four shots from downtown, en route to a nine-point scoring performance, while freshman guard Ryan Rasmussen tallied eight points, seven rebounds and two assists in the conference victory.

UMD will now travel home, as they will open the doors to Romano Gymnasium, when they are set to host a pair of NSIC foes, when they tango with Upper Iowa (1-6; 0-2) Friday night (Dec. 12) at 8:00 p.m., followed by a clash with the defending Division II national champion Winona State Warriors (4-4; 0-2) on Saturday evening (Dec. 13) at 8:00 p.m.

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