UMD Men Beat Winona State

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The University of Minnesota Duluth picked up its first postseason victory since 2006 in its first home stop in the same span, defeating Winona State University 67-64 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC)/Sanford Health Postseason Tournament opening round at Romano Gym on Wednesday evening.

UMD (16-13) moves to 6-0 at Romano Gym since the turn of the milennium and advances to the quarterfinals Sunday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Winona State (14-13) remains without a win in four postseason tries against the Bulldogs, dating back to 1989. The Bulldogs will take on Augustana (S.D.) College in the next round after the Vikings knocked off Bemidji State University in the first round.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior guard Brendon Pineda dominated the first half with eight points and 11 rebounds before the break, but senior center Brett Ervin took control in the second half with 24 points, including 10-of-11 free throws. Ervin finished with 30 points and nine boards for UMD, while Pineda had 10 and a game-high 16 rebounds.
• Sophomore reserve guard Riley Bambenek hit a pair of threes and finished with 14 points to lead four Warriors to hit double figures. He also tied for the team-high of six rebounds with junior forward Mark Blacklock.

The first half opened quietly for both teams, with Winona State the first time to reach double digits seven minutes into the game. A fastbreak lay-in by sophomore guard Isaiah Gray put the Vikings up 12-7, but UMD’s sophomore point man answered moments later as Justin Byrd nailed a three to keep the Bulldogs within a score. Trading more misses – the teams combined for 19-of-60 in the first half – Pineda drove the line to tie up the score coming out of the media timeout. A basket-and-a-foul by Ervin gave UMD its first lead, and when he missed the extra point, Pineda grabbed another rebound and eventually tipped in his own miss to give the Bulldogs a four-point lead. UMD would build a lead of as many as nine but the Warriors tightened it to five before Pineda scored the final points of the half to give the Bulldogs a 29-22 halftime lead.

Playing in front of one of the largest crowds at Romano Gym of the season, UMD shot 46.4 percent in the second half to hold off Winona State. “I don’t think the team wanted to let those fans down,” said head coach Matt Bowen after his first playoff victory with the Bulldogs. “It makes a big difference. That’s why you fight for home court advantage.” UMD put the ball in the hands of its senior leader in the second half as Ervin shot 7-of-15 and went to the line 11 times for 10 more points, scoring over 60 percent of the team’s 38 second-half points. Winona State opened the half on a 7-2 run, eventually chipping away and regaining the lead at 41-40 with 14:17 remaining. The teams would trade one point leads before an Ervin jumped with 8:39 remaining gave the Bulldogs a three-point margin they’d build to seven on a Lavery three-pointer, just the second of the game by any UMD player. The Bulldogs would hold tight the rest of the way, and a three-point effort for Blacklock at the buzzer would fall into the hands of freshman guard Kyle Schalow to give UMD the victory.

The Bulldogs shot 39 percent for the game, sinking just 2-of-15 threes and 19-of-27 free throw attempts, but Winona State shot 42.4 percent, making a trio of three pointers but making just 12 trips to the charity stripe for 11 points.