Minnesota Duluth continued its Cinderella run on Sunday night, spoiling a career milestone for St. Cloud State guard Luke Winkel.
On a night when Winkel scored his 1,000th career point to become the 47th player in program history to achieve the feat, the 25th-ranked Huskies let a 14-point lead slip away and dropped a 61-55 decision to UMD in the second round of the NCAA Division II national tournament at Lee Arena in Topeka, Kan.
“It’s a little frustrating on our end, but I’m so proud of this team,” said SCSU coach Quincy Henderson. “They worked incredibly hard this year and they competed. I’m really happy to be with this group. I can win with this group and I can lose with this group and still hang my head high.”
Fourth-seeded SCSU was held to its lowest field goal percentage of the season (30.6 percent). The Huskies finished with a 26-7 record.
The eighth-seeded Bulldogs (23-11) advanced to Tuesday’s regional final against No. 2 seed Oklahoma Baptist (29-3). The winner of that game will earn a trip to the Elite Eight.
Minnesota Duluth qualified for the NCAA Tournament by defeating SCSU, 76-65, in the championship game of the NSIC Tournament on March 3 at Sioux Falls, S.D. The Bulldogs then shocked third-ranked and top-seeded Washburn, 64-62, in Saturday’s opening round.
“Credit to Duluth,” Henderson said. “That’s got to be maybe the best 8 seed in the country. Those guys are talented, and they’re playing at a high level right now. They made the plays down the stretch that they needed to to win that game.”
SCSU closed the first half on a 15-7 run to take a 30-22 lead. The Huskies then opened the second half with a 9-3 run to build their biggest advantage at 39-25 on a jumper by Lee Marks III with 17 minutes 44 seconds left.
Winkel surpassed the 1,000-point mark when he scored in transition while being fouled to give the Huskies a 41-30 margin at the under-16 timeout. The former Ankeny Centennial star went on to finish with 15 points, three rebounds and three assists.
UMD used a 15-7 run to take its first lead in over 22 minutes of action with 3:38 remaining. The two teams then traded the lead three times over the next 2 minutes.
Winkel made an off-balance 3-point goal with the shot clock about to expire to give SCSU a 55-54 lead with 1:49 to go. But the Huskies never scored again.
Kole Hanson connected on two free throws with 1:23 left to put the Bulldogs ahead to stay. He led UMD with 20 points.
Caleb Siwek later made two free throws with 5 seconds to go to seal the win.