The University of Minnesota Duluth entered Saturday’s North Central Conference game against No. 20-ranked St. Cloud State University looking to finally jump back into the win column but the Bulldogs fell 63-59 for their seventh straight loss.

“I thought we competed and played hard tonight,” said UMD head coach Gary Holquist. “I liked our effort and if we continue to play in this manner and within our system we’ll be able to get things done.”

UMD (7-10, 0-2 NCC) went on a 6-0 run to start the contest but the Huskies (13-3, 2-0 NCC) clawed back to knot the game 13-13 at the 14:26 mark.



The game was tied two more times over the course of the next three minutes before the Huskies gained control.

SCSU held the lead until the 5:41 mark when Bulldog senior guard Jordan Nuness hit a jumper to tie things at 24-24.

The Huskies tied the game just 17 seconds later and went on to take the lead and hold onto it to go into the break with a 35-31 advantage over the Bulldogs.

St. Cloud State went on an 11-6 run to open the second half and controlled the tempo most of the half and led 57-50 with 6:05 remaining.

The Bulldogs were able to pull within three points, 62-59, with just 1:20 left to play but were unable to make any baskets during the final moments of the game.

Nuness finished the night with a game-high 22 points.

Junior forward Brian Sykora chipped in 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Freshman forward Marcus Helland recorded 11 points in the contest.

The Huskies outrebounded the Bulldogs 35-30 but both teams racked up 14 turnovers apiece.

UMD shot 40 percent from the floor while SCSU shot 44 percent.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 17 as they host Augustana College. The tip-off is set for 8 p.m.