The No.10 ranked University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team started off their journey through the NCAA Central Region tournament in exhilarating fashion, defeating the Fort Hays State University Tigers in a 59-58 buzzer beater, defensive showdown.
Halftime: UMD (31) - FHSU (27)
The energy was high to start things off this afternoon as a Middleton three pointer rolled in for the opening bucket. The two defensive powerhouses kept the score low, with the Bulldogs edging out a one point 5-4 lead throughout the first four minutes of the game. Six unanswered points for the Bulldogs would start off a 17-4 scoring run for UMD, closing out the first 10 minutes of the first half with a double digit 22-8 lead.
The Tigers would take their chance to answer, getting six unanswered points of their own to cut into the Bulldog lead. Back to back layups from Andrews and Thompson would give UMD a 5-2 scoring run down to the three and a half minute mark, but another five point streak would help the Tigers outscore the Bulldogs by seven throughout the final minutes and bring it to a two possession game going into the halftime intermission.
The Bulldogs ended the half shooting 12-26 (46.2%) from the field, 2-10 (20%) from outside the arc, and 5-12 (41.7%) from the charity line. The physicality for UMD came out to shine in a defensive first half, going +4 in rebounds and getting five extra attempts from the line off of two additional personal fouls from FHSU.
Final Score: UMD (59) - FHSU (58)
UMD would do a good job of keeping the Tigers at bay to open the second half, going head to head in scoring with FHSU and holding on to their four point lead throughout the opening two and a half minutes. Six unanswered points for the Tigers would give them their first lead of the afternoon, but it would quickly be matched with a successful trip to the line by Middleton to tie things up. Another five unanswered by FHSU to close out the opening 10 minutes of the half would give them their largest lead of five as time continued to wind down.
The Bulldogs would not allow FHSU to stray too far away, collecting five straight points for themselves to tie the score back up. The score line would tie itself back up four more times inside the final eight minutes of the game. As time ticked down, UMD would get the rebound on a missed free throw attempt from the Tigers and take it coast to coast to set Thompson up for a game winning layup, swirling in for the bucket as time expired to secure the semifinal appearance for the Dogs.
UMD caps off round one of their tourney run shooting 21-48 (43.8%) from the field, 2-15 (13.3%) from three point range, and 15-24 (62.5%) from the line. The Bulldogs struggled to show their usual proficiency from the line, but kept themselves in the fight with their physicality in the interior, tallying 32 points in the paint and forcing four additional personal fouls out of the Tigers.
"I thought our guys showed the same amount of toughness, just stayed with it, played super hard, stayed in the moment, and just never gave up and that is what March is all about" - Head Coach Justin Wieck
Top Performers
Mattie Thompson plays hero for the Bulldogs tonight with his buzzer beater layup to advance UMD into the semifinal round. The red shirt sophomore forward played the most time for Bulldogs coming off the bench tonight with 26 minutes and shot 2-3 from the field and 1-2 from the line for five points. Fifth year senior guard Drew Blair shot 4-12 from the field, 1-7 from three point range, and 4-6 from the line to tie for the team high with 13 total points.
Looking Ahead
The Bulldogs head into the semifinal round of this NCAA Regional Tournament with a matchup against No. 2 ranked Northwest Missouri State. The tip off for tomorrow's matchup is scheduled for 5:00 PM.
