The University of Minnesota Duluth used a giant second-half effort to down Michigan Tech University in non-conference action at Romano Gymnasium Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs erased a seven-point deficit with a 39 points in the final 20 minutes to capture a 61-56 win over the Huskies. UMD improved to 3-1 on the season. Michigan Tech fell to 1-2 after blowing a 12 point lead.

Defense and hustle were the major contributors to the second half comeback. UMD forced 14 turnovers, seven in each half, and had 11 more offensive rebounds then Michigan Tech. The Bulldogs corralled 15 offensive boards and turned them into 12 second chance points. They had 11 offensive boards in the second half alone, which led to 10 points. The Huskies, who shot 48 percent in the first 20 minutes to build that seven-point cushion, hit on only 10 of their 25 looks and hit on only one three after connecting on three in the first. UMD got to the line for 33 attempts tonight while Michigan Tech only went 10 times. Both teams shot into the 60 percent range from the line but the Bulldogs had 22 makes from the charity stripe, 16 more than the Huskies.

That resiliency in the paint by UMD was why they were able to recover from a 16-4 whooping in the opening 10 minutes. The Bulldogs scored 17 of their 19 made field goals from inside the paint. They shot a healthy 56 percent (17-for-30) from inside the restricted area. Collectively, UMD shot 34.5 percent from the field.

Junior forward Brandon Myer amassed his first double-double of the season with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Myer was 8-of-17 from the court and 10-of-12 from the free-throw line. He made the lone three-point shot for UMD, whom went 1-for-11 from long distance. Senior forward Sean Burns also tallied his first double-double of the young season, scoring 13 points and grabbing 14 boards including seven on the offensive end.

Bryan Heath led the Huskies with 19 points. Issac Appleby had a solid outing with 10 points, seven rebounds and a game-high five assists. Appleby scored all 10 points in the first half but was locked up in the second half by the Bulldog guards. Heath was the Huskies' go-to man down the stretch as he hit a three from the wing to give MTU a brief lead late and converted on a big three-point play the hard way with an and-one chance to tighten to score to 58-56 with 23 seconds to play. 

However, it was a defensive effort by senior guard Mamadou Ngom that gave the Bulldog the cushion to survive the last charge by Heath and the Huskies. After Myer extended the lead to 56-53, Ngom exerted himself to lockdown Heath. Ngom shadowed the 6-4 senior and blocked his jumper to trigger the shot clock violation, giving UMD the ball and built on its lead. 

The starting five for the Bulldogs netted all 39 points in the second half. Myer and Burns led the way with 14 and 10, respectively. Freshman guard Hunter Plamann had eight points and junior guard Logan Rohrscheib also chipped in the other seven points as that tandem went 9-for-12 from the line late to seal the victory.

The Bulldogs strike up Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play after a extended break on the first day of December at St. Cloud State University.