DULUTH, MINN. (MSUM Athletics) —A second-half rally by the Minnesota State University Moorhead men’s basketball team was not enough to overcome Minnesota Duluth on Saturday night, as the Dragons fell 99-86.
The Dragons were down by as much as 20 points in the second half. A 19-5 scoring run brought MSUM within six points but the Dragons could get no closer.
MSUM falls to 17-10 overall and 12-8 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Bulldogs improve to 19-7 overall and 14-6 in the NSIC.
The Dragons shot 52.5 percent (31-of-59) from the field and 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from beyond the arc compared to 51.6 percent (32-of-62) from the field and 51.5 percent (17-of-33) from three for the Bulldogs. Senior forward Brandon Myer had 45 points for UMD.
Sophomore guard Gavin Baumgartner led the Dragons with 26 points. Baumgartner also had team-highs in rebounds and assists with seven and four, respectively.
Sophomore guard Bryce Irsfeld scored 15 points. Senior guard Johnny Beeninga had 14 points and four rebounds. Junior forward Joe Sevlie scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds, while junior forward Kaedrick Williams scored 11 points as well.
In the first half, the Dragons found themselves down early. With 15:30 remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs built a 22-4 lead over the Dragons. MSUM would go on a 9-0 run to cut UMD’s lead to just nine points, but that was as close as they could get in the first half. The Dragons went into halftime down 54-38.
In the second half, the Dragons cut into UMD’s lead. With 13:17 remaining, a three-pointer by Irsfeld cut the lead to just six points. That was as close as the Dragons could get, as the Bulldogs answered back by going up by as much as 19 points. The Dragons would fall to the Bulldogs 99-86.
The Dragons return home next weekend. MSUM will take on Minot State on Friday, Feb. 21 with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The next day, the Dragons will face off with UMary at 5:30 p.m. These home games will be the final regular season games for MSUM before the start of the NSIC tournament.
