Playing on the road is tough. It makes matters worse when the home team gets off to a blazing start. What hurts more is to fight all the way back but end up falling just short.

That's what happened in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchup Sunday night in Minot N.D.

Minot State University got right into the swing of things early versus the University of Minnesota Duluth and wasted little time in building a huge 15-point lead going into the half. That lead swelled to 19 in the second half before the Bulldogs went on a ferocious 27-8 run in a span of 8:52 to march all the way back to tie the game at 64-64. Unfortunately, the Beavers, who are receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, had just enough in the tank to ward off the surging UMD club to win 80-71 in the final game of 2017.

The Bulldogs started their torrid pace back when they trailed 56-37 with 16:30 to play. Sophomore guard Trevor Entwisle got three points the hard way on an and-1 which sparked a 15-2 run to cut the deficit to 60-54. UMD had baskets from four different players including seven points from sophomore forward Brandon Myer during that stretch. Minot State was held without a basket for five minutes of play during the UMD run. When the Beavers needed it most, Luis Rucci Maia and Russ Davis nailed back-to-back threes moments after UMD tied it to open the cushion back up and quiet any inklings of one of the most shocking comeback upsets in the NSIC.

The Beavers, who came into the night winners of their last five, came out scorching hot from the initial tip. MSU (13-1, 7-1 NSIC) shot 64.3 percent in the opening half including 8-of-12 to start. Everyone for the Beavers was dialed in as everything seemed to fall regardless of the situation. UMD (4-8, 1-6 NSIC) hit 39 percent from the field but hit 11-of-25 from three-point distance. The 11 three-pointers was one shy of tying a season high mark.

Myer went off again for UMD, knocking down a team-high 28 points in the loss. Only Tyler Rudolph of MSU had a better night offensively as he led all players with 32 points. Sophomore guard Logan Rohrscheib was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 17 points. Rohrscheib was 3-for-4 behind the arc and hit a big three during the rally to put UMD within one. 

In addition to his 28 points, Myer also rejected four shots, a new single game-high for any Bulldog this season. His four blocks were the most since Kristofer Jackson had four back on Jan. 29, 2016. Entwisle continued to pile up the assists as he up his streak to seven games of three or more assists, and was also a menace on the defensive end drawing a charge and grabbing three steals.

UMD, who had its second two-game winning streak snapped, will head back home to begin the new year as it returns to Romano Gymnasium on Jan. 5-6, 2018 to square off against the University of Minnesota Crookston (Friday, Jan. 5) and Bemidji State University (Saturday, Jan. 6).