UMD Men’s Basketball with a Neck-and-Neck Finishing Game

Matthew Thompson gets a game-winning dunk against MSU on Tuesday, Feb. 11, in Romano Gymnasium. Photo by Grant Jones

This Tuesday, the Bulldogs (17-7) faced the MSU Mankato Mavericks (16-10). Both teams were neck-and-neck until a last second dunk by Matthew Thompson ultimately resulted in a Bulldog win of 75-74. 

 The game started strong for UMD as within 5 minutes, they got the lead of 11-6. UMD was still ahead, but not by far, with 10 minutes left of the first half with a score of 19-12. MSU fought hard near the end, tying up, making the game 34-34 going into halftime.

 Only 5 minutes into the second half, both teams were tied 47-47. Eventually, the Mavericks passed up the Bulldogs, making the game 61-55 with 10 minutes left. With 1 minute left in the game, MSU was ahead 71-68 but got a foul, letting Charlie Katona’s free throws make it 70-71. 

 The Mavericks then scored 2 more points, but Matthew Thompson got a free throw, making the score 74-73 with 8 seconds left in the game. Duluth fouled MSU with 3 seconds left but Mankato missed their shot, leaving Joshua Brown to grab the ball, run it to half court, then throw it to Thompson, who dunked it — 75-74 with 0.2 seconds left. Ultimately, MSU didn’t have enough time to do anything, ending the game with a well-earned Bulldog victory.         

 Charlie Katona led the pack, scoring 20 points this game, followed by Austin Andrews with 17 points, and Brown with 17 as well. UMD had 33 rebounds, while MSU had 30. UMD had 11 turnovers while MSU had 7, but MSU had 6 steals and UMD had 3. 

 The Bulldogs face off against Moorhead on Friday, Feb.14 at 5:30 p.m.