DULUTH, MN – A cold start offensively for the University of Mary men's basketball team doomed the Marauders in the opening contest of a four-game road swing as UMary fell 72-50 to the University of Minnesota Duluth.
 
Trever Kaiser led the Marauders once again in scoring, extending his team-leading streak to three games. The junior guard posted 12 points on the night and added seven rebounds.
 
"We didn't bring the focus needed to be successful tonight," said UMary head coach Joe Kittell. "We settled for way too many three-pointers in the first half and we just weren't knocking them down.
 
"I was proud of our bench's effort tonight and keeping us in the ballgame in the second half. We have to take advantage of every opportunity we get this year."
 
The Marauders hit just 25% of their shots in the opening half and fell behind 37-19 at intermission. UMary nearly played UMD even in the second half as the Bulldogs outscored the Marauders 35-31.
 
Doing much of their damage in the second half, the Marauders bench outscored the Bulldogs reserves 21-7 for the game. Deven Franks posted six points and four rebounds and Treyton Mattern scored five. Five Marauders came off the bench to play at least nine minutes on the night.
 
Matthew Kreklow hauled down 10 rebounds for UMary, his first double digit effort of the season.
 
Drew Blair led UMD with 20 points. Joshua Brown had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
 
The Marauders (1-4 overall, 1-2 NSIC North) and the Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0) close out the weekend series at 4 pm on Saturday, Jan. 16, in Duluth, MN.
 
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