Men's, Women's basketball advance to second round of conference playoffs

Senior Bulldog forward Brandon Myer (10) drives past Concordia-St. Paul defender Max Keefe during Wednesday’s NSIC tournament first round game. With 35 points in UMD’s 92-87 win, Myer crossed 2,000 career points. (Photo: UMD Athletics)

DULUTH, MN -- Both UMD’s men’s and women’s basketball teams took home victories Wednesday evening, punching their tickets to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) tournament quarterfinals.

The women got the doubleheader at Romano Gymnasium started, taking down their first round opponent, Upper Iowa University, by a score of 81-54. Sophomore forward, Brooke Olson led the Bulldogs, putting up a game high 33 points on 12-18 (67%) shooting. Senior forward Katie Stark added 15 points of her own, joining Olson as double digit scorers for UMD. 

With the victory, the Number one seeded Bulldogs advance to play Northern State University in quarterfinal action at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 pm on Sunday, March 1st. The game will be broadcast live on umdbulldogs.com

The men followed up with a thrilling performance of their own, surviving double overtime to defeat the visiting Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears 92-87. Reigning NCAA Division 2 Player of the Week, Brandon Myer, led the scoring for the Bulldogs, dropping 35 points and adding 15 rebounds and two blocks. Trevor Entwisle (13), Logan Rohrscheib (12), Drew Blair (12), and Alex Illikainen (10) all added double-digit scoring nights to power the UMD attack. 

Myer, who became the program’s all-time leading scorer in UMD’s regular season finale last Saturday at Bemidji State, became the first Bulldog to cross the 2,000 career point plateau. He hit the milestone on the second of two clutch free throws late in the second overtime session. 

UMD got some help in the extra sessions thanks to the Concordia-St. Paul getting themselves into foul trouble. In the end, three Golden Bears fouled out, and three more finished with four fouls a piece. The Bulldogs made the most of the opportunity, shooting 13-14 (93%) from the charity stripe in extra time.

With their victory, the men also move on to Sioux Falls to face the Winona State University Warriors in quarterfinal action from the Sanford Pentagon. Tip-off is set for 8 pm on Saturday, Feb. 29. 

For tickets, brackets, and more information, visit northernsun.org.