Despite a rally by Northern State University late in the first half, the University of Minnesota Duluth cruised to a 85-72 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory in Aberdeen, South Dakota on Friday night. The win for the Bulldogs marked four straight as the team heads to a match-up with No. 4 Minnesota State University Moorhead on Saturday.

UMD (7-2, 4-0 NSIC) jumped out to an early 25-14 lead with 9:35 marked off the clock before the team's offense went quiet. Northern State (5-5, 1-3 NSIC) went on a run of 15-4 to tie the game and eventually ran its run to 24-10, taking a three-point lead to the locker room. The Bulldogs would shoot 41.2 percent in the opening half, but the Wolves were just better, 44.8 percent including four three-pointers in the opening frame.

Senior guard Pierre Newton had 18 of his 29 points in the second half, grabbing eight rebounds after the break to complete a double-double with 11 rebounds in the game. His classmate Taylor Lavery also added 14 points after the break, finishing with 22 points. Senior forwad Brendon Pineda finished with 12 and eight, while senior guard Junior Coleman added 11 points off the bench. UMD shot 55.6 percent after the break including six threes -- two each from Lavery and sophomore guard Kyle Schalow -- to once again pull away.

Junior guard Darin Peterka finished with a double-double of his own with 24 and 10 for the Wolves. NSU extended its lead to a game-high seven at 46-39 just 2:49 into the second half before the Bulldogs made a run of their own, scoring the next nine points to regain the lead. After a 64-all tie with 5:40 remaining, UMD would score 18 of the next 22 points to pull away and never looked back as Lavery hit a pair of free throws late to seal it.

UMD and No. 4 MSU Moorhead will meet tomorrow evening in Moorhead, Minnesota in a match-up between the two early leaders in the NSIC North Division. Opening tip is set for 6:00 p.m., following the women's contest.