The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team suffered their first loss of the 2024-25 season on the home hardwood in Romano Gymnasium tonight, falling to the Winona State University Warriors 72-71 in overtime.

Final Score: UMD (71) - WSU (72)

After jumping out to a 12-4 advantage, UMD went on a 12-0 run with 14:25 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Nick Katona, to increase its lead to 24-4. The Bulldogs then lost a chunk of that lead, but still entered the halftime break with a 32-22 advantage. The Bulldogs relied on their three-point shooting in the period, knocking down five shots to account for 15 of their 32 points.

Following intermission, UMD kept widening that lead, expanding it to 45-33 before collecting eight unanswered points, finished off by a Noah Paulson three pointer, to grow the lead to 53-33 with 9:17 to go in the contest. The Warriors then fought back to even things up at 62-62 and send the game to overtime. The Bulldogs shot well from three-point range yet again in the half, hitting four shots from deep to score 12 of their 30 points.

Winona State went on to edge ahead in overtime, out-scoring the Bulldogs 10-9 throughout the extra period and leaving UMD behind 72-71 at the final buzzer.

Bulldog Notes vs. WSU

Charlie Katona added three assists and two steals to his 21 point game, leading the Bulldog scoring effort. Joshua Brown helped out with 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks and Caleb Siwek chipped in with 11 points, six rebounds and two steals.

The UMD offense was very productive from three point land, knocking down nine threes on 33 attempts. Katona was the most prolific shooter for the Bulldogs, draining three shots from behind the arc in the contest.

The Bulldogs' defense held Winona State to only 35.8% shooting from the field throughout the evening, including 29.4% from beyond the arc.

Looking Ahead

Bulldog men's basketball (7-4, 2-3 NSIC) will head to Concordia St. Paul this weekend to take on the Golden Bears in their final matchup before the new year. Tip-off against the Golden Bears is currently set for Saturday, Dec. 21, at 3:00 PM.