The University of Minnesota Duluth laid out the formula for knocking off the No. 9-ranked Minnesota State University-Moorhead when the teams met in Duluth this past December, but the Dragons offense proved too strong in the rematch, drawing even with UMD with a 89-67 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory in Moorhead on Friday night.

UMD (12-13, 9-10 NSIC) will look to avenge a defeat of its own and salvage a weekend split tomorrow against Northern State University, while No. 9-MSU Moorhead (26-2, 17-2 NSIC) secures its top seed in the NSIC/Sanford Health Posteason Tournament after out-scoring UMD 47-27 in the first half.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Senior center Brett Ervin came out of his scoring slump, netting 14 points to lead the way from UMD while tying with four others for the team-high of four rebounds, giving way to the bench with the game out of hand in the second half. Junior guard Pierre Newton and Taylor Lavery each hit double figures: 12 and 11, respectively, on the night
• Senior guard Jordan Riewer, who leads MSU-Moorhead on the season, netted 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting (4-of-7 from three-point range), while six Dragons hit double figures. Sophomore forward Matt Nelson scored 14 points for the Dragons. Senior guard Prescott Williams grabbed a game-high nine boards.

Ervin scored 13 of UMD's 27 points in the first half, with the remainder of the team shooting just 5-of-19 (26.3) percent, falling behind the hot-shooting Dragons early as Moorhead shot 18-of-36 in the first half with Riewer matched Ervin's 13 point effort, nailing a trio of threes in the first 20 minutes. The Dragons opened the game on a 7-0 run before Ervin hit a pair of free throws. The teams would trade buckets, and UMD pulled within three as Ervin nailed a jumper to make it 11-8, but Riewer answered with back-to-back threes surrounding a rebound on a missed three for the Bulldogs. That opened the door for a 15-5 run for MSU-M that put the game out of reach.

"Moorhead was really sharp tonight. They shot the ball well and executed their gameplan," said head coach Matt Bowen after the game. "There's a reason why they are 25-2. Even though the score was close, 42-40 in the second half, we just got beat by a team that displayed every reason they are 25-2. With the crowd and the atmosphere they had there, we would have had to play a sharp, efficient game, but it just wasn't here in the first half." UMD shot 56.0 percent in the second half, getting significant minutes from freshman guard Kyle Schalow, who had nine points, all on threes, while going 3-of-5 from the floor. Senior guard Reece Zoelle also knocked down a pair of threes as the Bulldogs went for 40 points on 14-of-25 shooting, including seven three-pointers after the break.

The Bulldogs shot 47.1 percent for the game, but 38.5 percent in the first half as Moorhead went an even 50.0 percent for the game, knocking down 10 threes for the game.
 

The Bulldogs will be back on the court tomorrow evening in Aberdeen, S.D. when UMD closes out the road portion of its NSIC schedule, taking on Northern State University (RV). Opening tip is set an hour later than the typical conference Saturday showdown - 7:00 p.m., following the women's contest.