Duluth, Minn.- UMD men's basketball was able to claw back from an early deficit to secure a 71-63 victory over Minot State on Saturday and a sweep of its weekend slate in Romano. The hard-earned win situates the Bulldogs with an 18-8 overall record and a 14-6 mark in NSIC play.

Story lede aside, it was actually UMD that jumped out to a hot start on Saturday. By the 16:50 mark, a Charlie Katona free throw had propelled the Bulldogs' lead to seven at a score of 9-2. That advantage would be encountered once again at a score of 11-4 a little over a minute later courtesy of an Austin Andrews layup with 15:28 remaining. But it was here that momentum started to swing in the Beavers' favor. Soon enough, a Jaxon Gunville triple had given MSU its first lead of the game at 14-12 with 12:27 remaining in the half. 

The Beavers wasted absolutely none of that time mounting a surplus of a lead. And with 6:09 left until the break, by way of a 21-3 run dating back to that 11-4 UMD score, MSU held a commanding 11-point advantage at 25-14. By the 2:48 mark, the Beavers' lead was still 11 at 33-22. MSU seemed destined to walk into the break with a pretty secure lead in-tow.

Not so fast. 

UMD used that 2:48 for all that it was worth. The result? A 10-3 Bulldogs run to close out the half that sawed their deficit all the way down to four at 36-32. 

Jack Middleton proved to be a major force behind UMD's efforts to stay alive in the first frame. The senior guard put up 11 points on a 4-8 shooting effort from the field crafted largely by a 3-6 tally from deep. On the other end, two Beavers had reached double figures through 20 minutes. Connor Hollenbeck had 14 almost entirely on 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Khari Broadway had 10 on a 4-6 shooting effort from the field to go with three assists.

Both teams had done good work from the charity stripe in the first half. UMD shot 5-6 (85.3%) from the line in the frame while MSU went 8-9 (88.9%). Each and every one of those points was starting to matter in what was shaping up to be a close one down the stretch.

And UMD would indeed do good work to stay afloat throughout the early goings of the second half. The Bulldogs kept good offensive pace with MSU while never allowing the Beavers to extend their advantage past six points. MSU's last lead of that size fell at the 16:33 mark at a score of 44-38. Still, UMD couldn't quite break through to developing a lead of its own. Instead, the Beavers continued to cling to marginal advantages for about half of half number two. With 7:45 to go in the game, it was just a one-point MSU lead at 56-55, but a MSU lead all the same. Then, with 7:07 on the clock, Katona got fouled. Free-throw attempt number one found the bottom of the net to finally tie the game back up. Attempt number two was even sweeter- it secured UMD a lead of 57-56, its first since a score of 12-11. 

Admittedly, it wouldn't last all that long. A Gunville three-ball would help the Beavers snag the lead right back at 59-57 exactly 50 seconds later. However, the Bulldogs finally had a fresh proof-of-concept that they could break through this cycle of Beaver leads. And with 3:58 remaining in the game, UMD did it again. A huge Joshua Brown splash from deep propelled the Bulldogs back on top at 62-61. This time, UMD would hold a much firmer grip of its advantage- Brown's bucket being the first in a 10-0 Bulldog run sure helped. Just like that, a Drew Blair three had the score at 67-61 UMD with only 2:48 remaining. And we were being serious about that grip- the Bulldogs' lead would stay at two scores the rest of the way. The Beavers would get to within four points at 67-63 with 1:39 remaining only for UMD to lock the door and throw away the key with a 4-0 closer of a run to leave the final score at 71-63 Bulldogs.

Blair had a massive half for UMD to help complete the comeback bid. The redshirt-senior guard put up 13 points on 3-5 shooting to go with four rebounds. He also went a perfect 4-4 from the line. Brown put up nine points on 3-5 shooting of his own to couple with four rebounds. Katona had eight points in the second half (with a 4-5 effort for the charity stripe) and five rebounds.

As a team, UMD went 4-10 from deep in the second half. Perhaps even more importantly than that, though, the Bulldogs maintained their strong stature at the line from the half before, going 11-13 (84.6%) from the stripe in half number two. Each and every one of those tallies proved crucial, as MSU couldn't seem to miss from the line, either. The Beavers went 6-7 in that regard in the second frame. 

A three-way tie for first place headlined UMD's scoring charts in this one, as a trifecta of Bulldogs closed with 13 points. Middleton paired his with seven rebounds. Katona coupled his with six boards and two assists. Blair's came on 3-6 shooting from deep (4-4 shooting from the stripe). But there's something else about that last case that deserves a little more of a highlight. Blair's 13 tallies were enough to leave him with 1814 total points on his career. Sitting at third place in UMD program history in scoring heading into tonight's game had been Mike Patterson with 1808 points. You know what that means. It's really been a year to remember for Blair- and there's still plenty of season left to be played. 

The Beavers were led by Broadway's 20 points on 9-15 shooting to go with three assists and three rebounds. Hollenbeck also tallied double-digits with 18 on 4-8 shooting overall and 3-6 shooting from deep. Michael Jok closed the night as MSU's leading rebounder with eight.

WORDS FROM WIECK
Saturday's game was a flip in the script compared to what had happened on Friday. That earlier contest against UMary had seen the Bulldogs go up big early and work to maintain that lead all night, an effort they'd been successful in. This game against MSU provided UMD with an opportunity to prove once again that it can dig itself out of a hole- and the team didn't let such an opportunity slide.

To UMD head coach Justin Wieck, this effort can be chalked up to a key attribute present within the team's effort on Saturday: perseverance.

"I thought we just stuck with it all night," Wieck said. "We weren't finishing around the rim and had too many turnovers in the 1st half. But we just kept playing hard, and eventually, it turned our way."

And it doesn't hurt that UMD made the most of its freebies.

The Bulldogs' final free-throw shooting percentage of 84.2% on a 16-19 mark from the stripe was the team's second-best outing in that arena all season. In a game like this where the Bulldogs often found themselves just a step or two behind, each of those 16 extra ticks proved to be massive. 

UMD has been (nationally) known to get to the line in bunches each and every game, but there can be struggles for the club once it gets there. Wieck is confident the Bulldogs can make strides in that field- perhaps Saturday's effort can serve as a spark.

"I know we have better FT shooters than how we've shot it all year," Wieck said. "It's been a big focus for us practice-wise the last few weeks. Tonight it sure helped."

One player that certainly influenced that 16-19 mark was Blair and his perfect 4-4 effort from the stripe.

It's no surprise, really- Blair has shown time and time again that he can score from just about anywhere, from right under the basket to the parking lot. It's reflected in his numbers across the season- the redshirt-senior guard has posted only two single-digit scoring efforts all year long. When you put it that way, the whole third all-time in program history in scoring thing really starts to make a lot of sense. But the scariest thing of all? Wieck thinks that Blair's game this season is just starting to peak. Not a bad time in the year for that to be happening, that's for sure. 

"Drew has been phenomenal all year, but he's really found his groove these past few weeks," Wieck said. "He's attacking the basket. He's picking up some key assists each night as well. When he continues to hunt great shots, he's one of the best in our league."