DULUTH, Minn. – Minnesota Duluth's Austin Andrews tallied a double-double and Drew Blair would make seven three-pointers to lead the Bulldogs to a 91-62 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball on Friday Night inside the Romano Gymnasium.
 
The Bulldogs, No. 8 in the D2SIDA rankings and No. 11 in the NABC rankings, improve to 18-2 overall, 11-2 NSIC, with the victory, while the Mustangs fall to 10-8 overall, 6-7 NSIC.
 
Andrews and Blair would each score 21 points, with Andrews adding a team-high 10 rebounds and five assists, while Blair would make 7 of 8 three pointers while grabbing five boards and two steals. 
 
Minnesota Duluth closed the game shooting 50 percent (33 of 65) from the field, including 13 of 27 from 3-point range. SMSU finished the game shooting 33.8 percent (22 of 65) from the field but committed 12 turnovers while only forcing four from the Bulldogs. 
 
SMSU was led by Dunwa Omot, who finished with a game-high and career-high 25 points while making a career-high five three pointers.  Kenny Byers added nine points on 4 of 8 shooting while adding five rebounds and a team-high three assists. Grant Kramer led the team with 10 rebounds, adding five points and a steal. 
 
The first five minutes of the game would be all Bulldogs, as they would score the first 13 points of the game on 5 of 8 shooting while holding SMSU to 0 of 9 shooting. Omot would get SMSU on the board, drilling a three-pointer at the 14:24 mark. 
 
UMD would continue their early dominance by scoring the next six points, racing to a 19-3 lead at the 12:55 mark. 
 
The Mustangs would claw back into the game, going on an 18-8 run with six different scorers contributing while limiting UMD to 2 of 11 shooting to trail 27-21 at the 5:46 mark in the first half. 
 
Duluth would connect on six of their next seven shots, including five of six from deep, with Blair scoring nine points to lead a 18-3 run to head into the locker room with UMD leading 45-24.
 
The first 14 points of the second half would be split between the two teams before Blair would continue his three parade, going on a 9-3 run while connecting on three threes to grow the UMD lead to 61-34 with 15:11 left in the game. 
 
SMSU would mount a 12-6 run to trail 67-46 with 11:29 to go, shooting 4 of 4 from the field and making each three pointer they attempted, but a 19-8 UMD run would follow to balloon their lead to 86-54. 
 
SMSU would score eight of the final 13 points to bring the game to its final score. 
 
SMSU finishes cross-division action on Saturday, Jan. 29 at St. Cloud State. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.