The University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team earned its third straight victory to start the 2025-26 campaign after trouncing the College of St. Scholastica 89-58 inside Romano Gymnasium Tuesday night.
Caleb Siwek had another colossal day with his third over 20-point game to start the season. He is now averaging 25 points per game after earning 21 against St. Scholastica with an 80% shot accuracy.
Nick Katona and
Jaden Morgan also put up double-digit points. Katona led the team with three blocks while tallying 14 points, two steals, three assists, and four rebounds. In just seven minutes of action as a redshirt freshman, Morgan hit the 10-point mark, shooting 50% beyond the arc and 57.1% from the field.
Entering the first half, the Bulldogs and Saints began even through the first eight minutes, deadlocking at 14-14. But this was the last point UMD allowed St. Scholastica to be close as a pair of free throws from
Nick Katona and a three-pointer from Siwek in the following minutes put the Bulldogs on top for the duration. The last ten minutes of the half saw the Saints fall behind on a 16-5 scoring run. This effort was led by
Mattie Thompson,
Owen Leach,
Peyton Rogers, Siwek,
Jackson Fowlkes, Katona,
Peyton Rogers, and
Daniel Molhoek, putting the team ahead 42-30 at halftime.
From then on, the rout was on, the second half saw the Bulldogs pull out ahead by 20 in the first five minutes after Siwek put up eight of the 13 points. After that, the Saints would only find room for 23 points over the final 15 minutes, with the Bulldog bench combining for 31 points of the game's total.
As a team, the Bulldogs combined to shoot 53.2% from the field while earning 46 of their 89 points in the paint to dominate the Saints 18. UMD also ran away with points off turnovers with a staggering 20 to St. Scholastica's six. The rebound effort was led by Paulson's eight rebounds in 22 minutes, with the team as a whole combining for 44.
The Bulldogs now turn their attention to the annual 2025 American Family Insurance Classic hosted inside Romano Gymnasium starting this Friday. UMD will face Michigan Technological University with the tip-off set for 6:00 p.m.
