Wayne, NE – The No. 9 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs traveled to face the Wayne State Wildcats on Saturday afternoon. After what was a battle from start to finish, the Bulldogs closed out the Wildcats down the stretch to win the game 91-83. The Bulldogs improve to 17-2 (10-2) on the season.
In the first half, the Bulldogs started hot as they jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead. The Wildcats quickly responded and tied the game up. From there, the Bulldogs stayed hot as they worked their way up to a 20-11 lead thanks to a
Joshua Brown jumper with 11:54 left. The Bulldogs managed to maintain their lead until the Wildcats fought their way back to a two-point deficit as the Bulldogs led 27-25 with 5:34 remaining in the half. Both teams battled and traded baskets the rest of the way as neither team could pull away down the stretch. After teams traded free throws on back-to-back possessions at the end of the half,
Drew Blair could not hit a jump shot at the buzzer as the Wildcats took a 38-37 halftime lead.
Jacob Shields led the Bulldogs in the first half with 9 points off the bench. The Bulldogs shot 13-31 (41.9%) from the field in the first half as they also shot 3-11 (27.3%) from three-point range. They also shot 8-10 from the foul line. The Wildcats shot 14-29 (48.3%) from the field and 4-7 (57.1%) from three-point range in the first half.
The Bulldogs started the second half with two straight baskets from
Austin Andrews and
Charlie Katona as they took an early second half lead 41-40. Teams once again traded baskets over the next few possessions as a
Joshua Brown jump shot gave the Bulldogs a 52-49 at the first media timeout. Coming out of the media timeout,
Drew Blair scored on back-to-back possessions, but the Wildcats answered with baskets of their own to keep the score close. With 10:54 remaining the half, a three-pointer from
Joshua Strong gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the half as they took a 63-56 lead. Teams continued to battle and trade baskets. The Bulldogs once again began to pull away after back-to-back possessions they got a
Jack Middleton three-pointer, and an
Austin Andrews layup gave the Bulldogs an 74-66 lead with 6:31 remaining in the half. The Bulldogs continued to build their lead as they built up to a 78-66 lead. The Wildcats responded by cutting the Bulldogs lead to 78-71, but the Bulldogs responded with back-to-back possessions with free throws from
Austin Andrews and
Jack Middleton to give them a 82-73 lead with 2:14 remaining. The last 1:20 of the game turned into the Wildcats fouling to attempt to get back into the game. The Bulldogs managed to seal the game down the stretch with their defense and from the foul line to win 91-83. The Bulldogs shot 16-28 (57.1%) from the field and 4-10 (40%) from three-point line. They also shot 18-20 from the foul line in the second half. The Wildcats shot 17-36 (47.2%) from the field and 3-13 ( 23.1%) from three-point range in the second half.
The Bulldogs were led by
Austin Andrews who had 26 points on the night.
Drew Blair also added 20 points.
Jack Middleton added 16 points of his own as
Joshua Brown and
Jacob Shields both had 10 points. Andrews led the team with 9 rebounds on the night while
Drew Blair led the team with 3 assists. Overall, the Bulldogs shot 29-59 (49.2%) from the field and 7-21 (33.3%) from three-point range. They also shot 26-30 from the foul line on the night.
The Wildcats were led by Jordan Janssen and Justin Eagins who both had 19 points on the night. Cody McCullough led the team with 9 rebounds while Alec Millender led with 4 assists. The Wildcats shot 31-65 (47.7%) from the field and 7-20 (35%) from three-point range. They also shot 14-19 from the foul line.
Who's Next:
The No. 9 Bulldogs will be back home next weekend as they will host Southwest Minnesota State on Friday at 7:30 pm. They will then host Sioux Falls on Saturday at 5:30 pm. Make sure you come out and support your Bulldogs!
