UMD Athletics

The RV University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs Men's Basketball team overcame their first-half shooting woes, besting the Concordia University, St. Paul Golden Bears 80-75. The Bulldogs start the season 1-0, while the Golden Bears start off 0-1. Despite both being NSIC foes, this game is non-conference and does not count towards the NSIC standings.

The Golden Bears came out of the gate hot against the Bulldogs, entering the game with a 9-1 run before the Bulldogs had to talk things over with a timeout. Entering the first media, the Bulldogs only shot 1-9, while the Golden Bears were 5-9 from the field.

After the media, the Bulldogs started to find their way into the game, compiling an 8-3 run between timeouts to put UMD within three entering the second media, capped off with a fast break layup by Jacob Hibner to put the score at 14-11 in favor of the Golden Bears. The Bulldogs and Golden Bears battled evenly in the middle of the first quarter, but the Golden Bears grew their edge to 22-17 entering into the back half of the third quarter.

The Bulldogs evened it up entering the final media timeout of the first half, with a Wyatt McBeth layup knotting things up between the two sides for the first time since the start of the game, 22-22. However, the Golden Bears would find themselves with a four-point lead entering halftime off of a late offensive surge, holding a 35-31 lead at break.

The Bulldogs had a plethora of contributors to the score, with nine Bulldogs getting on the board in the first half. Darik Dissette led the Bulldogs with six points. Brandon Hrncir led Concordia-St. Paul with seven points. The Bulldogs faced first half woes with shooting, going 0-13 from beyond the arc. Despite this, UMD found plenty of second chances, nabbing nine offensive rebounds. Concordia-St. Paul shot decently, going 44.8% from the field and going 4-13 from beyond the arc. Both teams didn't turnover the ball much, but UMD edged out a +3 turnover margin in the first half, turning over the ball three times compared to the Golden Bears six.

The second half started similarly for the Golden Bears, with Concordia-St. Paul scoring 15 points in the first five minutes of action to build a nine-point lead entering the first media timeout of the second half. However, the Bulldogs threw another counterpunch, with the Bulldogs cutting it to two with an Owen Leach and-one bucket with 9:31 remaining.

The Bulldogs found their first lead of the game with seven minutes left in the second half on a Nick Katona three, putting UMD up 65-64. The Bulldogs would build that lead to three entering the final media timeout, 69-66. UMD continued to pile on the pressure, building the lead up to 75-68 and forcing Concordia-St. Paul to take a timeout with 2:54 remaining. The Golden Bears wouldn't go away quietly however… as Concordia-St. Paul got four points quickly to make it a three point game with 1:41 remaining. 

Entering the final minute, UMD clung onto a 75-73 lead. The Golden Bears' three-point attempt to take the lead fell short, and Jackson Fowlkes extended the lead to four. Concordia-St. Paul turned the ball over on the next play, and Nick Katona hit two more free throws to give UMD a six-point lead. The Golden Bears hit a quick layup with 12 seconds to go, but Darik Dissette would hit another free throw to put the lead back at five, which would be the final margin of victory for the Bulldogs. UMD picked up their first win of the season with an 80-75 victory over Concordia-St. Paul.

Bulldog Notes:

• UMD shot 30-80 from the field for 37.5%, while Concordia-St. Paul shot 26-59 for 44.1%.

• Jackson Fowlkes led UMD in scoring with 14 points, while also contributing five assists in the win. Caleb Siwek and Nick Katona also reached double figures with 11 each.

• The Bulldogs outrebounded the Golden Bears 46-37, and were +6 in the turnover margin, 8-14.

• Caleb Siwek led in boards, grabbing eight for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs now head to St. Joseph, Missouri to take on the Emporia State Hornets in the 2026 Hillyard Tipoff Classic. The game is on November 13th, with tipoff set for 5:00 p.m.