The University of Minnesota Duluth picked up its most exciting win of the season last time out at Romano Gymnasium, knocking off then-No. 14 Minnesota State University-Moorhead. The Bulldogs will look to keep the ball rolling this weekend when they play host to St. Cloud State University on Saturday in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rematch.
UMD (6-5, 3-2 NSIC) split a pair of games last weekend at Romano Gym, knocking off MSU-Moorhead for the first time this season Saturday after falling to Northern State University on Friday night.
FREE THROWS• Senior center
Brett Ervin -followed up an NSIC Player of the Week selection by averaging 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds for UMD, shooting 38.0 percent on the weekend with a pair of assists and one block.
• Junior guard
Pierre Newton posted a double-double in arguably his best game of the season, scoring 19 points while hauling in 11 rebounds, adding a pair of assists and a steal to lead UMD to victory on Saturday against MSU-Moorhead. For the weekend, he averaged 11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds on 47.6 percent shooting with four assists and two steals
"It's a team we played about three weeks ago, similar situation. We were up 10 at the half and found a way to be out-rebounded and out-scrapped in the second half," said head coach
Matt Bowen about facing off with the Huskies again. "I know that is a bitter taste in our guys' mouths. I'm hoping we are learning how to finish games out. We certainly know how to win in the first half. Our record is 9-2 at the half. We have to learn how to finish games out. We have a big week of finals preparation, and then prepare for the Huskies."
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES (Saturday, Dec. 20, 4:00 p.m.) -
Live Stats/Video•
St. Cloud State (5-5, 2-3 NSIC) rolls into Duluth on a three-game losing skid against conference foes with an average margin of defeat of 14 points while also surrendering 91 or more points in each defeat. SCSU edged UMD 69-66 in St. Cloud on Nov. 29 earlier this season. The Huskies owns a 50-31 all-time record against the Bulldogs.
• Senior guard Kevin Levandoski netted 17 points against UMD and has averaged 12.8 points per game so far this season. Junior guard Jordan Poydras leads the Huskies with 16.8 points per game on the season, but the Bulldogs held him to just nine in their first meeting. Senior center James Fort hauled in seven boards on the season, on-par with his season average of 6.4 per contest, 11th-most in the NSIC.
• Ervin led all players with 20 points per game on 8-of-15 shooting as four Bulldogs collected double-digits scoring. SCSU out-rebounded UMD 33-31 on the night and also out-scored the Bulldogs 14-6 on turnovers.
BULLDOG 'BYTE"That's part of being a student athlete. You have to balance both [finals and preparing for games]. We'll come back Tuesday, lace the shoes up, and prepare for the Huskies. It's our rivalry. We'll definitely be ready." - Newton, on preparing for a game while preparing for final exams
UMD and St. Cloud State will take the court at Romano Gym on Saturday at 4:00 p.m., following the women's contest.
