BISMARCK, ND – On a night where points were hard to find, the University of Mary men's basketball team kept the University of Minnesota Duluth below its scoring average but the Marauders were unable to keep pace in a 70-52 loss to the visiting Bulldogs.
 
Facing one of the top-scoring teams in the Northern Sun, the Marauders (4-18 overall, 2-11 Northern Sun) held the Bulldogs (13-5, 8-4 NSIC) under UMD's scoring average of 78 points per game.  
 
Playing at home for the first time in 20 days, the Marauders were led in scoring by Jeremiah Jones. The sophomore guard hit a pair of treys on his way to 12 points, grabbed four rebounds, blocked two shots and delivered a pair of assists.
 
Jones also had four steals in the game. The NSIC leader in steals, Jones is now one shy of the Marauders NCAA single season record of 57 steals, set by Marquealis Edwards in 2015-16.
 
Ty Rogers added 10 points, making 2-of-3 from behind the arc and converted both free throws. Kevin McGaskey chipped in eight points and three assists. Alex Mattes scored seven points off the bench. Overall eight Marauders scored in the game.  
 
In a hard-fought first half in front of an energetic home crowd, UMary's defense made life difficult for UMD while the Marauders found their offensive footing. Down 11 at one point, a 3-pointer by Mattes in the final minute closed the gap to five points. The Bulldogs responded with a trey at the buzzer to send UMD into intermission with a 35-27 lead.
 
After UMary closed to 37-31 on a pair of Ty Rogers free throws early in the second half, UMD found an offensive spark and ran off nine straight points on the way to a 21-5 run to take command of the game.
 
Charlie Katona paced the Bulldogs with 17 points, five assists and three steals while grabbing seven rebounds. Kole Hanson added 16 points behind four treys.
 
The Marauders had an advantage at the free throw line (11-of-13 to 7-of-15 for UMD) and an edge in bench points (16-15) and fast break points (10-4). UMary shot just 27.4% for the game and was 7-of-27 on treys while UMD made 47.4% of its shots overall and was 9-of-24 behind the arc,
 
This was the Marauders fifth game this season against a team that qualified for the 2024 NCAA tournament and the eighth against a team that won at least 20 games last season.
 
UMary wraps up the weekend hosting Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, January 25. Tip off between the Marauders and the Golden Bears is set for 3:30 pm at the McDowell Activity Center. Tickets are available online at www.UMaryTickets.com.
 
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