The University of Minnesota Duluth ended its 2015-16 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference season on a sour note as Minot State University pulled away late in the fourth quarter to hand the Bulldogs a 90-82 defeat on the road Saturday night in Minot, North Dakota.

UMD (15-13, 11-11 NSIC) appeared a step behind the Beavers throughout the first half with Minot State despite six lead changes and one tie score in the opening 20 minutes. Neither team could amount a significant run in the early going, but the Beavers led 10-4 after 3:18 before UMD answered with eight straight points, senior guards Taylor Lavery and Junior Coleman each cashing in a three-pointer to give UMD a lead, but Minot State knotted it up at 12-all just seconds later and regained the lead on a three-pointer with MSU top scorer Tyler Rudolph scoring five straight points. The Beavers were hot from three early, scoring six treys in the first half, three from Michael Pelo, who turned an 18-17 Bulldog lead into a 23-18 Minot lead with eight straight points heading to the first media timeout. The teams traded looks throughout the rest of hte half, and Minot took a 43-38 lead to the locker room.

Senior guard Pierre Newton pulled the Bulldogs within two scoring UMD's first four points of the half, but Minot State cashing in a 10-2 run that put the Beavers up by ten with 15:12 remaining. The Bulldogs would continue to scratch away at that over the next ten minutes, and with 6:01 remainign senior forward Brendon Pineda hit a three-pointer that put UMD within three. Following a missed shot by the Bulldogs, a technical foul came down against the UMD bench, and Minot State cashed in on both gree throws and score on its next two possessions, opening up an 11-0 run that put them back up by 13 with less than three minutes remaining. The Bulldogs would cut into the lead in the closing moments but fall in its sixth straight to close out the regular season.

Lavery led the way with 33 points for UMD, with Pineda adding 18, Coleman 14, and Newton 10 on the night. Three Bulldogs tied with a team-high five rebounds on the night. UMD hit seven threes on the night, but Minot State hit 10, shooting 53.6 percent for the game while the Bulldogs were respectable at 44.4 percent but could not match the Beavers.  Davis led the way with 24 points for Minot State with Rudolph adding 20 and Pelo 18. Rudolph closed out a double-double with a game-high 11 boards.

Despite its skid to end the regular season, UMD did enough to lock up home court advantage in the first round of the NSIC postseason this Wednesday afternoon. The Bulldogs will meet the fifth-place team in the South Division, either the University of Sioux Falls or Upper Iowa University pending on a tiebreaker for fourth place. That game will be scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Duluth.