Duluth, Minn. – The UMD Men's Basketball team would find themselves in a shootout in their second game of the American Family Insurance Classic against the East Central Tigers. The Bulldogs would use a strong offensive showing, led by Drew Blair and Jack Middleton to outlast the Tigers to win 92-84.
 
UMD would start out hot in the first half as they would go up 15-10 after the first media timeout. The Bulldogs would continue their strong offensive play throughout the first half as they would build up to a 35-26 lead thanks to a Middleton three-pointer with 4:46 left in the first half. The Tigers would show their offensive abilities as their offense would catch fire and they would tighten the lead to a 40-38 Bulldog lead thanks to a three-pointer from Josh Crutchfield. Teams would continue to battle throughout the rest of the half as the Tigers would end the half trailing the Bulldogs 46-43.
 
In the second half, both teams' offenses would be slow out the gate as UMD would take a 54-50 lead after a Drew Blair layup with 15:21 left. From there, the Bulldogs offense would begin to heat up once again. After building up to a 60-55 lead, the Bulldogs would use a 9-0 run to take control of the game in the second half. UMD wouldn't stop there as they would Build up their lead to as high as 16 points as they would take an 87-71 lead with 1:25 left in the game. The Tigers would apply a successful full court press throughout the remainder of the game to make the game closer, but it would prove to be too late as the Bulldogs would close out East Central to win the game 92-84.
 
The Bulldogs would be led by redshirt junior Drew Blair who had 29 points on the night on 10-14 shooting (5-8 3pt). Jack Middleton would add 22 on the night with 22 points on 7-11 shooting (4-7 3pt). Sophomores Austin Andrews and Charlie Katona would add 17 and 10 points respectively as 4 Bulldog starters were in double digits. Andrews would add 12 rebounds on the night for his second straight double-double. Andrews would also lead the team in assists with 5 on the night. Overall, the Bulldogs would shoot an impressive 32-54 (59.3%) on the night while shooting 11-24 (45.8%) from three. They would also shoot 17-26 (65.4%) from the free throw line. The Bulldogs would turn the ball over 18 times on the night.
 
The Tigers were led by Romello Wilbert who had 20 points on the night on 10-13 shooting. Josh Apple also added 19 points on the night on 7-14 shooting. Wilbert would lead the team with 5 rebounds and 6 assists on the night. Overall, the Tigers would shoot 33-64 on the night (51.6%) from the field while shooting 8-23 (34.8%) from three. They would also shoot 10-11 (90.9%) from the free throw line. The Tigers would turn the ball over 11 times on the night.
 
Who's next:
The Bulldogs will host Northland College on Tuesday November 16 with a 6:00 pm tip-off. They will then travel to face off against Concordia, St. Paul on Friday November 19 with a 7:00 pm tip-off. UMD starts conference play on November 23 as they will host St. Cloud State at 7:30 pm in Romano Gym.