Box Score Junior guard Reece Zoelle threw down a career-high 42 points, including 26 in the opening half, as the University of Minnesota Duluth earned a road win against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North division foe Northern State University, 88-80 on Friday evening.

Zoelle was 8-of-9 from beyond the arc for the game and shot 66.7 percent overall, while adding six rebounds and a block on the night. The UMD single-game record for points is 47, set in 1994 by Jerry Meyer against the University of Wis.-Superior. Zoelle also neared the Bulldog record for threes in a game (11, also owned by Meyer). The last time a Bulldog had 40 points was a 41-point effort by Ryan Rasmussen on Feb. 5, 2010 against St. Cloud State. Senior guard Peter Crawford led the way for UMD with eight boards while adding 28 points including a 15-of-16 night from the charity stripe. It's the third time this season a Bulldog has neared Rasmussen's record of 17 free throws set in that 2010 game (Jordan Reetz, 15-of-18 vs. Northern State on Jan. 25 and Crawford, 15-of-17 vs. Sioux Falls on Jan. 10).

UMD (9-12, 7-10 NSIC) opened up an early 8-2 lead, but Northern State (14-9, 9-8 NSIC) battled back and by the midpoint of the half led 16-11. The Wolves opened up a ten-point lead at 26-16 when the Bulldogs went on their own run to pull within a pair at 26-28 with 3:45 to go. UMD found itself at the line twice in the final 90 seconds, and junior Reece Zoelle and senior Jordan Reetz made good as the Bulldogs got up late. A lone Northern State free throw in the closing seconds made it 35-34 at the break. The Bulldogs shot 36.7 percent in the opening frame but held Northern State down to 41.1 percent as well.

Both teams came out of the locker room firing off shots with a pair of ties and several lead changes in the early-going. NSU pulled its lead to 56-52 just before the midpoint of the half, but four straight free throws by Peter Crawford and another big three by Zoelle got the Bulldogs back in the hunt. UMD took a 61-60 lead with just over six minutes to go and never looked back, making a number of free throws down the stretch to hold off the Wolves. Noteworth on the night for Northern State, Jared Hannigan had 36 points.

The victory surpasses the Bulldogs' win total from a season ago as the UMD squad continues on the road tomorrow night, taking on another NSIC North foe in Minnesota State University-Moorhead. The Dragons knocked off UMD 76-71 at Romano Gym just two weeks ago. Opening tip is set for 6:00 p.m., following the women's contest.