The No. 11 ranked University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball survived their first matchup in this year's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) postseason tournament in dominant fashion, taking down the Augustana University Vikings 88-74.
Halftime: UMD (46) - AU (36)
UMD got the afternoon going from the line, with Andrews putting the first point up on the board. They were quick to add another shot from range to get an early four points on the board within the first minute and a half. The two teams continue to match each other, with the Bulldogs pulling out a slight one point scoring advantage to go up 10-5. However, eight unanswered points by the Vikings would give them their first lead of the half with just under 15 minutes left. The Bulldogs would edge out another one point scoring lead, going 11-10 with the vikings over the next five minutes but would stay at a 21-23 deficit halfway through the first block of the game.
Augustana would quickly bring their lead up to five points over the Bulldogs, but it would be quickly shut down by seven unanswered points from UMD to take back the lead with six minutes left in the half. The game would see three more ties and two lead changes in the score line as the clock winded down. Though Blair was determined to go to the locker with a cushion, scoring 10 unassisted and unanswered points in the final two and a half minutes to give the Bulldogs a 46-36 lead heading into the halftime intermission.
The Bulldogs shot 17-28 (60.7%) from the field, 4-9 (44.4%) from outside the arc, and 8-12 (66.7%) from the charity line to close out the second half. UMD put on a clinic in the interior, scoring 22 points in the paint, while benefiting from two additional personal fouls from the Vikings to get over double the attempts from the line.
Final Score: UMD (88) - AU (74)
The Vikings would cut into the UMD lead on the first two possessions of the second half, but another eight unanswered for the Dogs would bring that lead back and some through the first four minutes. The two teams fell back into a run of back to back scoring before a run of nine points for AU would cut the Bulldog lead down to just four points with 11 minutes left. The Bulldogs were determined to bark back though, with a Middleton three pointer highlighting a 10-0 scoring run to put them back up by double digits with just under 10 minutes left.
The Vikings would go on an 8-2 scoring run over the next three and a half minutes before the two teams would yet again fall back into their matching rhythm, going 9-9 with each other down to the four minute mark. In the final three minutes, the Bulldogs would get two dunks from Meister and Brown to create their own 8-2 scoring run, securing the lead and the win for their first round of NSIC tourney play.
UMD ended the matchup shooting 31-62 (50%) from the field, 8-19 (42.1%) from three point range, and 18-29 (62.1%) from the line. The Bulldogs heavily relied on their interior play, collecting 42 points in the paint compared to the Vikings' 22 points in the paint, while Augustana struggled to hold control of the ball after collecting nine turnovers throughout the afternoon.
"We're excited about the win. You don't get a lot of 4 verse 9 regional ranked teams in the quarterfinal of a conference tournament very often, so credit to our guys for pulling out this win" - Head Coach Justin Wieck
Top Performers
Fifth year senior Drew Blair shot 13-20 (65%) from the field, 4-7 (57.1%) from three point range, and 5-6 (83.3%) from the line to lead the game and set a new season high with 35 points while also leading the team in assists with six. Senior Charlie Katona shot 5-13 (38.5%) from the field, 1-3 (33.3%) from three point range, and 4-8 (50%) from the line for 15 points while also tallying four rebounds, an assists, a block, and a steal.
Looking Ahead
Men's basketball awaits the winner of MSU Moorhead and Winona State in the semifinal round of the NSIC tournament. The next round's game is set for Monday, March 4, at 1:30 PM.
