The University of Minnesota Duluth bounced back in a big way from a Friday night defeat, knocking off No. 14 Minnesota State University-Moorhead 60-58 in a defensive showdown at Romano Gymnasium on Saturday evening.

Junior guard Pierre Newton collected a double-double as UMD (6-5, 3-2 NSIC) handed the Dragons their first defeat of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference season (12-1, 4-1 NSIC).
 
TOP SCORERS
• Newton led all scorers with 19 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 8-of-13 from the floor for UMD. Senior center Brett Ervin had 16 points on 6-of-15 (40.0 percent) from the floor, while junior swing man Brendon Pineda just missed a double-double with 10 rebounds and eight boards.
• Center Isaac Sevlie went 7-of-11 from the floor to lead Moorhead with 18 points while Jordan Riewer was 7-of-13 from 16. Sevlie and Tyler Vaughan tied for a team-high of five boards.
After a late UMD lead evaporated the night before against Northern State University, the sight of the 14th-ranked team in the nation trimming a 60-53 Bulldog lead with 2:56 remaining to just a basket as just 54 seconds ticked off the clock could have left any team nervous, but after a timeout by UMD head coach Matt Bowen, the team buckled down defensively and did not allow a basket the rest of the way, holding the Dragons to 0-for-4 including 0-for-3 on go-ahead three-point attempts. "I'm really proud of our kids' effort. After last night and how that game ended, there certainly were a lot of reasons for our guys to come in frustrated, and I didn't sense that today at all," said Bowen after the game. "They bounced back and competed really hard today. It wasn't pretty, but it was a fair defensive effort on our part. We did enough to squeak by."

Newton led the Bulldog defensive effort before fouling out in the closing seconds of the game, hauling in nine defensive boards as UMD out-rebounded MSU-Moorhead 33-7 in their offensive end and 40-31 overall on the night while holding the previously-undefeated Dragons to just a 40.0 percent shooting mark (24-of-60). "Today, I wasn't as passive as I was last night. The coaches told me I need to be more aggressive and attack more, and I feel like today, I put that on my shoulders and used my God-given talent to attack the rim," said Newton in his game. "Last night, we just waited for somebody to make plays. Tonight, we were the aggressor. We started getting some calls, getting easy lay-ups, easy looks -- just attacking, that was the main thing that helped us tonight."

UMD relied heavily on its starters, with an 0-for-1 night in 24 minutes from a pair of reserves as several players nursed injuries. "We got pretty thin pretty quick, but we're used to that - we went through it last year. The kids have been great getting through their rotation. Pineda, today, played everywhere from the 2-guard to the center. Defensively, they hung in there and did we wanted them to do." The Bulldogs did enough offensively with a 42.0 percent shooting night (21-of-50) including 11-of-23 in the second half. They also made good on 10-of-14 trips to the free throw line after just five the night before. MSU-Moorhead was 7-of-12 from the charity stripe.

UP NEXT
UMD returns to Romano Gym one more time before the calendar turns to 2015 when the Bulldogs play host to NSIC rival St. Cloud State University on Saturday. Opening tip is set for 4:00 p.m., following the women's contest.