In a battle of early-season contenders in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division, the University of Minnesota Duluth held off the University of Mary 73-62 for their seventh consecutive victory Saturday evening at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth, Minn.

The usual suspects, senior forward Brandon Myer and senior forward Alex Illikainen got the Bulldog offense clicking early. Myer connected on a step-back jumper and a three-pointer from the right-wing while Illikainen connected on a jump-hook from five feet out. A couple of possessions later, Redshirt-freshman guard Drew Blair added a three from the left corner to give UMD an early nine-point advantage. The Bulldogs shot 10-17 (58.8%) from the field in the opening nine minutes to help build a 24-12 lead and forced five early turnovers from the Marauders. The trio of Myer, Illikainen, and Blair combined for 34 of UMD's 38 first-half points. Mary would close out the final four minutes of the first half with a 13-2 run to get back into the game. With a foot on the top of the three-point arc, Myer connected on another step-back jumper in the final minute to give the Bulldogs a 38-33 lead at halftime.

Senior guard Logan Rohrscheib, who was honored during pregame warmups for scoring his 1,000th point for UMD last week at Michigan Tech, drilled a three-pointer from the right-wing to open the scoring for the Bulldogs in the second half. Rohrscheib found the bottom of the net again for his second three-pointer, this one from the left corner to give the Bulldogs a seven-point cushion with 14:49 remaining. With four-and-a-half minutes remaining, Connor Hellebust cut the Bulldog lead to two points on three in transition but the Bulldogs responded on their ensuing possession when senior guard Trevor Entwisle found Illikainen on the pick-and-roll for the basket and a foul. Illikainen would convert the and-one opportunity to give the Bulldogs a 59-54 lead. Myer provided a key stop on defense 30 seconds later, tipping a Marauder three-pointer to force a shot clock violation. Rohrscheib would make Mary pay on the next possession by cashing in on his third three-pointer of the half. Rohrscheib stayed on fire two possessions later, connecting on another three from the left corner to put the Bulldog advantage back to seven points at 67-60. Mary responded but Myer countered again, pulling up and converting from 17 feet with just under a minute remaining to all but seal UMD's seventh consecutive victory.

Notables:
Saturday's victory extended UMD's winning streak to seven games, their longest since 2007 when they also rattled off seven straight wins ... Including Saturday's contest, the Bulldog's had taken the lead into halftime in their last six games and have been 6-0 in those contests.

UMD lead for the entire night with their largest advantage coming at the 4:22 mark of the first half when they pushed their lead to 16 points courtesy of two free throws from Blair ...  Four Bulldogs landed in double figures Saturday evening: Myer (25 points, 8-11 FG), Blair (17 points, 7-12 FG), Rohrscheib (14 points, 5-10 FG) and Illikainen (13 points, 5-12 FG) ... UMD edged the Marauders on the glass, outrebounding Mary 24-19.

Up Next: 
The Bulldogs will begin a three-game road trip next Friday (Dec. 13) when they take on NSIC rival, the University of Sioux Falls. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D.