Ervin Nets 33 in UMD Win

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

Senior center Brett Ervin dropped 33 points as the University of Minnesota Duluth saw Bemidji State University draw even after an early lead, but then pulled away late to knock off its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival by a 79-66 final in Bemidji, Minnesota on Saturday evening.

UMD (5-4, 2-1 NSIC) pulled back above the .500 mark while handing Bemidji State (5-2, 1-2 NSIC) just its second defeat of the season.

TOP SCORERS
• Ervin shot 14-of-19 for UMD to lead all scorers with 33 points, tying with junior guards Brendon Pineda and Pierre Newton for the team-high of six rebounds. Pineda (17), Newton (12), and Reece Zoelle (10) also hit double digits scoring for UMD.
• For Bemidji, Ben Best netted 16 points while hauling in nine boards to lead the way. Dillon Floyd added 12 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting, while Kaylor Zimmerman had 10 points in a start.

UMD shot 50.0 percent in the opening half, making good on 5-of-8 three-pointers. The Beavers were just 11-of-29 in the opening half, and 3-of-10 from beyond the arc as the Bulldogs built a 34-27 halftime lead. A pair of baskets put UMD up by 11 early in the second half, but Bemidji State ran off 18 of the next 22 points and then four straight to tie it up at 46-46. The Beavers would never regain the lead though as UMD scored 13 straight points to take a 71-57 lead. The Bulldogs made free throws down the stretch, including 8-of-10 by Newton in the second half to keep Bemidji State at bay.

UMD shot 60.9 percent in the second half, and 15-of-20 at the charity stripe, to finish shooting 55.1 percent for the game. The Beavers made up for their slow first half shooting 46.9 percent in the second, but settled for too many threes, just 4-of-10 from range as they worked to pull even with the Bulldogs.

UP NEXT
UMD returns to Romano Gymnasium to close out the season’s first half with three home games, including against Northern State University and Minnesota State University-Moorhead next weekend. The Bulldogs and Wolves will start the action Friday night at 8:00 p.m., following the women’s contest.