BY RYAN DEPAUW | The Statesman
THE GAME
Coming into the game against the U-Mary Marauders (13-6, 8-5 NSIC), UMD was currently riding a three-game losing streak. The last two losses have come at the hands of No. 2 Augustana (South Dakota), and Minot State. Minot State not only gave the Bulldogs their first home loss of the season, but did it in fashion as they bashed the Bulldogs by a score of 94-64--the least amount of points in a game since the first game of the season against Central Missouri (when they tallied just 60 points). Tonight’s game began as about as tough a game as you would like to see. The Bulldogs jumped on the Marauders early, playing aggressive basketball on both sides of the court. About 10 minutes into the game, the Bulldogs began to pull away and maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the game. With a lead as high as 30 points at one point, the Bulldogs responded to their three-game losing streak by dismantling U-Mary by a score of 100-74, tying a season high for points.
THE TAKEAWAY
The takeaway from the game tonight is that this team can still play. Despite coming into the matchup on a three-game losing streak, the Bulldogs responded by playing aggressively on both ends of the court. There were times where they would have been better off wearing ice skates (with how many times they kept falling down) but when they went to the ground, UMD came up with the ball a majority of the time. They played scrappy, made good passes, took good shots (and made many of them), playing a full 40 minutes in the process.
THREE KEY STATS
1- The number of times the score was either tied or the lead changed in the game. Once the Bulldogs got the lead early on, they maintained a near double-digit lead for a majority of the game.
52- The number of points scored by Taylor Lavery and Pierre Newton. Each scored 26 apiece and remain a top as the No. 1 and No. 2 leading scorers for the Bulldogs this season.
57.1- The field goal percentage for the Bulldogs offense tonight. Including tonight’s game, the Bulldogs overall season field goal percentage sits at 46.4 percent, which is slightly better than their opponents’ 45.4 field goal percentage.