Box Score Everything seemed to fall in the University of Minnesota Duluth's favor in the opening half, but fortune flipped on its head at the break as Upper Iowa University scored 59 second-half points to end the Bulldogs' season in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Tournament, 86-81 in  Fayette on Wednesday night.

UMD (12-15) held a 22-point edge 13 minutes into the game, but Upper Iowa (14-9) outscored the Bulldogs 70-43 over the game's final 27 minutes to advance to the next round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament.

"It was heartbreaking," said second-year head coach Matt Bowen after the game. "My heart breaks for Peter [Crawford] and Jordan [Reetz, UMD's seniors] ... Defensively, our effort was really great in the first half, we were zoned in to exactly what we wanted to get done. Then, we had a monumental collapse in the second half. It's a combination of us falling apart, and them making shots. If they get hot, we can't keep giving them second chances."

Junior guard Reece Zoelle continued his hot streak with 16 points in the opening half as UMD shot 53.1 percent compared to just 35.5 for the Peacocks. Zoelle would finish with a game-high 26 points. Upper Iowa heated up in the second half, making 24-of-36 shots including 7-of-13 from beyond the arc, but it was 17 points off turnovers and 14 second-chance points that edged UMD. The Peacocks also got 23 points off their bench, compared to just eight for the Bulldogs.

Ther rest of the upperclassmen continued to shoulder the load for the Bulldogs. Seniors Peter Crawford and Jordan Reetz ended their UMD careers with 15, and 12 points, respectively. Crawford also had a team-high nine rebounds while Reetz had six assists. Junior guard Junior Coleman had 15 points.

"There was no silver lining within the game," added Coach Bowen. "Unfortunately, the last 20 minutes of this season were not our best, [but] when you look at the season on a whole, we're very proud of the kids. We had tremendous senior leadership. We grew as a team. We made a lot of progress. 12-15 is not where UMD wants to be, but we laid the groundwork for future success. I think this is a season where you look back and say, things turned around."