The No. 10 ranked University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team closed out their season tonight in the NCAA Central Region semifinals, falling to the No. 4 ranked Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats in a 62-71 defensive standoff.
Halftime: UMD (26) - NWMSU (31)
The two teams began this game in a stalemate of unmatched defense, staying through the opening three and a half minutes and with only one bucket being scored by the Bearcats by the first media timeout. Back to back mid range jumpers from Blair and C. Katona would kick off the Bulldog offense and quickly tie the game back up with just under 14 minutes in the half, but would be answered with three consecutive three point shots from NWMSU over the following three and a half minutes.
A much needed "and one" opportunity for Meister would stifle the Bearcat momentum momentarily, but they would go on to collect another seven unanswered to take a 13 point lead with eight and a half minutes left. NWMSU would bring their lead to 15 before back to back Blair and N. Katona three pointers would jumpstart the Bulldogs offense, leading them to a 17-7 scoring run to end the first half and get back within five points before the intermission.
The Bulldogs finished the first half shooting 10-18 (55.6%) from the field, 2-4 (50%) from outside the arc, and 4-5 (80%) from the charity line. The Bulldogs were doing a great job of playing physical on the ball, forcing eight personal fouls out of the Bearcats, but struggled to protect the ball collecting nine turnovers through the opening 20 minutes.
Final Score: UMD (62) - NWMSU (71)
A successful trip to the line by Andrews would open up the second half for UMD, and soon after a C. Katona layup would quickly get the Bulldogs within one point of the Bearcat lead. In a back and forth scoring battle, the Bulldogs would edge out a 8-7 scoring run to tie up the scoreline at 38-38 with 14 and a half minutes left to go. NWMSU would go down court to collect two, but not without being answered by another Blair three pointer to give the Dogs their first lead of the game. A technical foul assessed to the Bulldog bench would allow the Bearcats to collect a 7-4 scoring run and regain the lead to close out the opening 10 minutes of the second half. The Bulldogs would struggle to make up the ground from that point on, getting outscored 24-17 the end the game and close out their season at the NCAA regional semifinals.
UMD closed out the night shooting 24-47 (51.1%) from the field, 4-9 (44.4%) from three point range, and 10-11 (90.9%) from the line. Despite the Bulldogs ability to out-rebound the Bearcats by +6, 15 turnovers from UMD would stagger their momentum too much to recover from the NWMSU lead.
"I just tried to be aggressive, and thought we made a good push there and just didn't have enough to get over the hump" - Fifth Year Senior Drew Blair
Graduate Farewell
Men's basketball bids farewell to Drew Blair and Jack Middleton tonight, playing their final game in their five year collegiate careers under the Bulldog banner. The veteran duo for UMD reached 105 career wins together this season and ended their time with the Bulldogs with 3,988 combined career points.
"I could go on and on about these two, but they deserve every single accolade and win, and everything they've done they've done it the right way and forever gonna be two of the great players that have played in this program" - Head Coach Justin Wieck
Top Performers
Fifth year senior Drew Blair shot 7-14 (50%) from the field, 3-5 (60%) from three point range, and 4-4 from the line to lead the team in scoring with 21 points tonight while also collecting four rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Senior Austin Andrews shot 5-7 (71.4%) from the field and 4-4 from the line for 14 points tonight while also collecting two assists and a team high six rebounds.
