UMC Men’s Basketball struggles against Bulldog shooters, falls to Minnesota-Duluth

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team were overwhelmed by the Minnesota Duluth Bulldog shooters on Saturday, both from the field and the free throw line, as the Golden Eagles fell to the Bulldogs 107-67 on Saturday.

FIRST HALF –
The first half started slowly, as neither team scored in the first 2 minutes until a Charlie Katona 3-pointer opened the scoring in this game. A Micah Garrett jumper made it 6-5 UMC, but that ended up being the last lead that UMC would have for the entirety of the game. An 18-4 run by the Bulldogs gave them a 23-10 lead, and the scoring exploded from there. Katona, Cole Lahti and Kole Hanson led the way in scoring for the team as the lead ballooned to a 20-point game at 35-15. That lead hovered around 20 all the way until 43-23, and then the Bulldogs exploded once again, ending the half on a 12-4 run to take a 55-27 lead into the half. The team had 6 players in double figures in this game, and 3 of them hit double figures in the first half alone.

SECOND HALF –
UMC, once again, began to play a little bit better in the second half, the same thing that they did against Concordia St. Paul on Friday. An issue that powered through, however, was fouls; UMC committed 27 fouls in the contest, resulting in the Bulldogs getting 39 free throw attempts, making 30 of them. UMC scored the first 4 points of the half, but Minnesota-Duluth was able to keep their foot on the gas, making shots from all over the court, leading them to a 59.6% clip from the field. UMC was able to get 5 players of their own into double figures, but those players combined for 56 of the team’s 67 points, and secondary scoring was virtually nonexistent. The Bulldog defense was terrific as well, as they held the Golden Eagles to a 42.9% clip from the field and a 17.6% clip from beyond the arch, and all of these factors allowed the Bulldogs to take care of business against the Golden Eagles, winning 107-67.

UMC falls to 3-15 on the season, 2-10 in conference play. Minnesota-Duluth won their 5th straight game, improving to 12-5 on the year, 7-4 now in the conference.