The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team closed out their final game of the inaugural St. Louis County Basketball Classic this evening, banking in on a huge first half performance from Mattie Thompson on their way to a 79-67 win over the Northern Michigan Wildcats.

Final Score: UMD (79) - NMU (67)

After playing to an 8-8 tie, UMD collected 10 unanswered points with 12:13 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Kole Hanson, to take an 18-8 lead. The Bulldogs went on to add three points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 37-24 advantage. UMD relied on their three-point shooting in the period, knocking down seven shots to account for 21 of their 37 points.

The Bulldogs kept their lead intact to start the second half before going on an 8-0 run to grow the lead to 49-35 with 15:18 to go in the contest. The Wildcats narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, narrowly out-scoring UMD 32-30 throughout the final 15 minutes of the game, but the Bulldogs were able to ride out their early lead the rest of the way for the 79-67 win. UMD shot well from three-point range in the half, hitting seven shots from deep to score 21 of their 42 points.

Bulldog Notes vs. NMU

The Bulldogs begin the 2024-25 season 5-0 for the first time since the 2021-22, in which they rattled off wins in their first 16 regular season games before falling to Upper Iowa University in mid January.

Thompson led the way for the Bulldogs in the contest, tallying 22 points and two blocks. Caleb Siwek added another 20 points for the Bulldogs along the way, and Charlie Katona also helped out with a double double of 18 points and 17 rebounds. The three combined to account for 76% of the Bulldogs' points.

UMD took advantage of fantastic ball movement in Saturday's game, piling up 16 assists on 27 made field goals. Individually, Austin Andrews led the way for the Bulldogs with three assists.

Looking Ahead

Bulldog men's basketball gears up for one more non-conference matchup with Lake Superior State University before beginning their NSIC schedule. Tip-off against the Lakers is currently set for Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 1:00 PM.