DULUTH, MINN. – The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (10-9, 6-7 NSIC), which had career highs from Luke Healy (16) and Jack Cartwright (15), dropped a 98-64 decision to No. 11 Minnesota Duluth (19-2, 12-2 NSIC) on Saturday (Jan. 29) in NSIC cross-divisional play at Romano Gym.

With the loss to UMD, the Cougars now sit 6-7 in the NSIC for seventh place although just a half-game out of fifth place in the bunched-up NSIC South Division. USF lost for the second straight time to UMD and holds a 6-5 overall series edge since joining the NSIC. Next up for USF will be a home game against Concordia St. Paul on Friday, Feb. 4 at the Stewart Center.

Healy scored 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field as he recorded his second career double-digit scoring game. He also made 2-of-3 from three-point range and 2-of-2 at the foul line. In addition, he contributed four rebounds and two assists. Jack Cartwright registered his first-ever double-digit scoring game and had a career-high with 15 points as he knocked in a career-best three triples in eight attempts. He was 5-of-12 from the field and also made both of his free throws while grabbing four rebounds.

Also reaching double-digits was Chase Grinde, who made it for the 48^th time in his career as he finished with 10 points along with six rebounds, three assists and a steal. With his total tonight, he now has 949 career points. USF also had eight points from Jack Thompson, who hit a pair of three-pointers.

Overall, USF was 24-of-67 from the field for 35.8 percent. USF hit just 25.8 percent from three-point range on 8-of-31 shooting and was 8-of-13 from the foul line. The Cougars were outrebounded, 34-27, and committed 12 turnovers.

UMD, which had 33 points from Drew Blair and 22 by Austin Andrews, came into the game as the highest-scoring team in the league. And, the UMD shooters were on fire tonight by making 33-of-60 field goals for the game for 55 percent. They also hit 9-of-18 from three-point range and 23-of-26 foul shots.

Scoring Summary
UMD, which hit 17-of-29 field goals for 58.6 percent and 8-of-13 three-pointers for 61.5 percent in the opening half, jumped up quickly with a 10-2 lead just 1:52 into the game. While USF made just 1-of-3 to open, UMD knocked down 4-of-5 shots including a pair of triples. The lead swelled to 16-4 before Grinde hit a jumper to cut the lead to 10 (16-6).

A three-pointer and another basket from Thompson sliced the lead to 18-11 with 15:35 to play. Then UMD responded with an 11-0 run for a 29-11 margin at the 10:55 mark. Grinde again broke the run with an inside jumper as USF trailed 29-13 with 10:30 to play.  UMD continued to control the game as they moved to a 36-13 lead as they made 11 of their first 16 shots from the field. Of that total, they were 4-of-5 from the three-point range. With threes from Healy and Thompson, USF cut the UMD lead to 38-19 with seven minutes to play. However, the Bulldogs closed on a 16-10 run for the 25-point lead at the break.

As for the Cougars, they made just 11-of-29 field goals for 37.9 percent and hit on 3-of-11 from the three-point range.

In the second half, USF opened by outscoring UMD, 15-12 to close within 66-44 but the momentum was clearly with UMD. In the second half, USF was 13-of-8 for 34.2 percent and 5-of-20 from the three-point range for 25 percent. UMD hit 16-of-31 field goals for 51.6 percent and made 11-of-12 foul shots.

Breaking it down shows UMD controlled action in the paint with a 44-to-18 differential. They also had a 21-to-8 margin in points over turnovers and also had a 25-to-7 margin in fast-break points. Despite a frustrating night, USF's bench scored 42 points, 19 more than UMD.