Duluth, Minn.- The No. 14 UMD men's basketball team lost a competitive 90-76 contest against Northern Michigan in Romano on Sunday. With the loss, the Bulldogs' record now sits at 5-2. This also spells the end for an eye-popping home win streak for the Bulldogs. Across the last two seasons, they'd won 18 consecutive games in Romano. This includes going a perfect 15-0 at home across the entire 2021-22 campaign.

Romano magic certainly did the Bulldogs well early in this one, as they were first to establish a bit of an advantage. A Charlie Katona bucket put UMD up 10-5 with 15:30 left in the first half. The Bulldogs had scored the first four points of the contest and had also led 6-2. This may all feel marginal, but in a game as scrappy as this one would prove to be, these were meaningful leads to hold. 

Soon enough though, the Wildcats came knocking.

In just over two minutes, Northern Michigan rattled off a 7-2 run to draw even at 12-12. Three different Wildcats scored to make it happen, the run being capped off by Diego Robinson, who'd had a big block on the other end not long before.

No bother- a Drew Blair layup served as some quick cauterization. While this would slow the Wildcats down, it didn't stop them. Just when UMD would take a lead, Northern would respond in kind to tie things back up. This trend continued until the Wildcats snapped it by taking a 21-19 advantage of their own. Though the roles had been reversed, the Bulldogs quickly adapted to their new part by tying things back up at 21-all on an Austin Andrews layup. Unfortunately, Northern had gotten acclimated to being the lead-taker, too. A Max Weisbrod three made it 24-21.

What followed was an 8:31 lead soliloquy for the Wildcats to close out the half.

It started with Northern sealing the deal on a 13-5 run (dating back to the last tie at 21 apiece) with another Weisbrod three to give them an eight-point advantage at 34-26. From there, the Bulldogs would keep scratching and clawing, but the Wildcats would keep replenishing their lead. UMD made it a one-possession game at 36-33 off of an Andrews layup only for an 8-4 Northern run (fueled by five points from Max Bjorklund) to again leave the lead at 7 at a score of 44-37. Still, the Bulldogs didn't go anywhere. They were rewarded for their continued efforts by managing to go into the half down just four at a score of 46-42.

The Wildcats had shot lights-out from all spots of the court in the first half. 16-28 (57.1%) from the field, 9-15 (60%) from three, and a perfect 5-5 from the stripe. To their credit, the Bulldogs had very nearly matched Northern blow-for-blow. UMD shot 17-32 (53.1%) overall in the first half and 5-6 from the line. The Bulldogs'  Achilles heel relative to the Wildcats had been with their three-point shooting. UMD finished the first frame going just 3-10 from beyond the arc. Still, they were right there. Just a few bounces, and it could be a whole new game.

Who better to be a bounce boss than Blair.

After Northern and UMD traded buckets to start the second half, the redshirt-senior saw to it himself that this game got tied up. First, he got to the line, taking care of business with two makes to leave the score at 48-46. Close isn't good enough- he'd snag a steal and sink a layup on the other end to fully knot things up at 48 apiece with 16:41 remaining. 

While this seemed to generate some momentum for the Bulldogs, it still wasn't quite enough to push them over the hump entirely. A Bjorklund two-pointer gave the Wildcats the lead right back at 50-48. Charlie Katona would even things up seconds later with a layup, but an ensuing Brian Parzych two-ball at the 15:21 mark would spell a new time-with-lead streak for Northern. For just under six minutes, UMD would be right on the doorstep, within two possessions or less of either tying things back up or taking a lead of their own. But the Wildcats  just kept providing answers for everything the Bulldogs threw their way. With 9:37 remaining, a three from (who else) Bjorklund made it a three-score contest once again at a score of 63-56 Northern.

It would be an uphill battle for the Bulldogs to break out of this cycle, but they were no stranger to inclines at this stage in the game. So, they kept pushing forward. Even in the face of a nine-point deficit at a score of 71-62. Even with just 7:05 to play. The Bulldogs never stopped. Two free-throws from Katona trimmed the Northern lead back down to seven. A Katona layup brought it back down to five. Soon enough, Blair found himself at the line with a chance to bring his team within a possession of drawing even once again. Swish, swish. 71-68 Northern, 4:17 to play. It's a scene the Bulldogs had encountered time-and-time again this game. Maybe this could be the moment where they flipped the script.

If only it could be so simple. Enter Parzych, a one-man wrecking crew.

The sophomore guard scored five straight points himself to bring the Wildcat lead back up to eight. This included a successful drive to the basket that resulted in an and-one to finish the job. 76-68 Northern, just 3:14 left to play.

Message received, response sent. The Bulldogs would counter right back with another Katona layup and a coveted Middleton three-ball to, once again, draw within a score. All of it took a hair shy of a minute. 76-73 Wildcats, 2:15 remaining.

What a story these two teams had written so far. Northern had played a significant role in shaping it, but it seemed like everything was settled into place for the Bulldogs to break through in the end at long last. The time crunch would make for a nice touch.

Sometimes, though, there just isn't a happy ending. 

Rather than succumb to the role of powerful force brought down in the closing seconds, the Wildcats just expanded their power. A pair of Weisbrod free-throws set the scene for Bjorklund to sink a layup to put the Wildcats back up by six at 80-74. Parzych came back into the fold to put in a second-chance bucket to push the game back into a a three-score affair at 82-64. From there, the Bulldogs had little choice but to play the foul game to try to extend the contest. Unfortunately for UMD, Northern just couldn't miss from the line down the stretch. The Wildcats ended the day with eight consecutive makes from the charity stripe. That was enough for Northern to seal the game, one ultimately much tighter than the final would suggest, at a score of 90-76.

Katona had a massive second half for the Bulldogs. He shot 5-6 from the field and was 4-4 from the line en route to a 14-point outing in the frame. Unfortunately, it was a two-headed monster of double-digits on the other end. Bjorklund had 17 of his 26 points for the game in the second half while Parzych had 13. Weisbrod was cold-blooded in the frame- he went 8-8 from the line. 

As a team, the Wildcats were 13-14 from the charity stripe in the second half. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs went just 12-19 from the stripe. Something else that cut into UMD's comeback bid was it's continued struggles from beyond the arc, going just 2-9 from three. Northern didn't shoot the three particularly well either in the frame, going 3-11, but they had the benefit of the lead and a 50% shooting percentage from the field, from which they went 14-28.

By the end of the game, Andrews was UMD's highest scorer with 22 points on 8-13 (61.5%) shooting. He also had seven rebounds on the night. Blair had 18 on 8-13 while tossing out a team-high five assists. As a team, the Bulldogs weren't irredeemable from the field- they shot 27-56 (48.2%). Their marks of 5-19 (26.3%) from three and 17-25 (68%) from the line are the ones they'll be circling ahead of NSIC competition on Thursday.

On the other end was a trifecta of 20-point scorers for the Wildcats. Bjorklund closed with 26 on 9-18 shooting. He also had five rebounds. Weisbrod had an afternoon of hyper-efficiency. He went 5-6 from the field, 4-5 from three and 9-9 from the line en route to 23 points. Parzych had 22 on 8-15 (53.3%) shooting from the floor. All things considered, Northern shot 30-56 (53.6%) from the field as a team. They went 12-26 (46.2%) from three. Perhaps most importantly, the Wildcats were 18-19 (94.7%) from free-throw land. 
 

WORDS FROM WIECK

It was just one of those days for the Bulldogs.

Defensively, it was a different feel from UMD's effort the night before, when it had held Michigan Tech to just 39.1% shooting from the floor and 31.8% shooting from three for 65 points. Part of that could always be that the Wildcats simply got hot. In the case of someone like Bjorklund, it could actually just be that he played as expected. The senior came into Sunday averaging 24.4 points a game, after-all. Still, the Bulldogs were part of the equation. UMD head coach Justin Wieck wants to see a different result moving forward.

"We got outplayed in so many different areas defensively and in the little things that win you basketball games," Wieck said. "We preach toughness and details on the defensive end, but we had some bad breakdowns tonight. If we're going to have a successful year, we need to hang our hat on that end of the floor."

Offensively, though, there is room for optimism. Early in the season, Wieck was consistent with his belief that there was more to his team's offense than what had been meeting the eye. This week, his team has done work to prove that. Even through all that Sunday entailed, UMD still walked away from it having shot nearly 50%. And In the last three games combined, the Bulldogs have operated at a clip of 52.3% from the field.

This is all something that Wieck has certainly noticed. Still, the defining tone of the day was one of a need for improvement. It's nothing Wieck doesn't think that his squad is capable of, but they still have to do it. 

"Offensively we've found a rhythm a little bit…" Wieck said. "I believe in this team and what we can be, but we have some real work to do by Thursday to get better."
 

UP NEXT

The Bulldogs will be locked-in to NSIC come Thursday, Dec. 1 when they host Minnesota Crookston at 7:30 p.m. December already? Guess it's the holiday season- time for a holiday promotion. Thursday's Ugly Sweater Night in Romano. Bring your best- or worst, depending on perspective- to watch the Bulldogs bring their best on the court.