Duluth, Minn. – The No. 11 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs hosted the Southwest Minnesota Mustangs on Friday night. The Bulldogs used a strong start to the game to propel them to a  91-62 win. The Bulldogs improve to 18-2 (10-2) on the season.
 
The Bulldogs began the game hot from both ends of the floor as they jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead with 16:04 remaining in the first half. From there, the Bulldogs continued their momentum as they continued to stay hot on both ends of the floor. Austin Andrews started hot for the Bulldogs as he had 10 quick points in the first half for the Bulldogs. As the first half continued, the Bulldogs extended their lead to 19-5 with 12:08 remaining in the first half. The Mustangs began to slowly cut into the Bulldogs lead as their offense began to build some momentum. The Mustangs slowly chipped into the Bulldogs lead as UMD took a 27-14 lead thanks to a Drew Blair three-pointer with 8:58 remaining in the first half. The Mustangs responded with a 7-0 run to cut the Bulldogs lead to 27-21 with 5:29 remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs once again began to extend their leas they got their lead to 18 points, thanks to back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from Drew Blair as the Bulldogs took a 42-24 lead with 1:07 remaining in the half. From there, the Bulldogs got a couple stops down the stretch as the Bulldogs took a 45-24 first half lead. Austin Andrews and Drew Blair started strong in the first half as they had 13 and 12 points respectively. The Bulldogs shot 16-30 (53.3%) from the field and 7-15 (46.7%) from three-point range in the first half. The Mustangs shot 9-34 (26.5%) from the field and 2-13 (15.4%) from three-point range in the first half.
 
Austin Andrews and Drew Blair continued their hot start as they both started the half with a pair of buckets, including back-to-back three pointers from Drew Blair as the Bulldogs extended their lead to 58-31 with 16:01 remaining in the second half. Blair stayed hot from three-point range with another three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 61-34 lead. The Mustangs went on a short run to try to cut into the Bulldogs lead, as they cut the Bulldogs lead down to 23 points as the Bulldogs led 67-44 with 11:26 remaining in the game. From there, both teams traded baskets as the Bulldogs maintained their lead and held the Mustangs out of reach. The Bulldogs slowly built up their lead down the stretch as they took a 86-54 lead with 5:00 minutes remaining in the game. The Bulldogs continued their strong play down the stretch as they began to empty the bench. Lincoln Meister came off the bench and had some big baskets down the stretch for the Bulldogs as the game was out of reach for the Mustangs. The Bulldogs led 90-59 with 2:45 remaining in the game. From there, the Bulldogs closed out the Mustangs as they went on to win the game 91-62. The Bulldogs shot 17-35 (48.6%) from the field and 6-12 (50%) from three-point range. The Mustangs shot 13-31 (41.9%) from the field and 8-18 (44.4%) from three-point range.
 
The Bulldogs were led by Austin Andrews and Drew Blair who both had 21 points on the night. Blair was lights out from deep as he was 7-8 from three-point range. Andrews led the team with 10 rebounds on the night for another double-double. Andrews also led the team with 5 assists while Zach Lea and Joshua Brown both had 4 assists. Overall, the Bulldogs shot 33-65 (50.8%) from the field and 13-27 (48.1%) from three-point range. The Bulldogs also went 12-20 from the foul line.
 
The Mustangs were led by Dunwa Omot who had 25 points on the night. Grant Kramer led the team with 10 rebounds. Overall, the Mustangs shot 22-65 (33.8%) from the field and 10-31 (32.3%) from three-point range. They also shot 8-12 from the foul line.
 
Who's Next:
The Bulldogs will be back home tomorrow as they will host Sioux Falls at 5:30 PM. Come out and support your Bulldogs!