In the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/ Sanford Health Tournament, the University of Minnesota Duluth defeated Winona State University 89-77 in overtime Wednesday night inside McCown Gymnasium. The Bulldogs erupted to outscore the Warriors 17-5 in overtime. 

UMD, who improved to 12-17 overall, advance to play No. 11 Northern State University in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC Tournament which takes place Saturday, Feb. 24 at 12:00 p.m. inside the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Bulldogs move to 13-10 all-time in the single-elimination tournament. The grind continues as UMD will have the chance to compete in the semifinals for the first time since 2004 with a win. The Bulldogs also snapped a three-game losing streak to Winona State. 

Senior forward Jake Wilson and junior guard Mamadou Ngom each drained three three-pointers in the first half. The Bulldogs hit on 10-of-18 three pointers in the first half alone to take a two-point lead into the half. Ngom had 14 points in the first half to lead all scorers after 20 minutes. He was perfect from the field and hit on all three of his long-range attempts. Winona State went to the paint for its early scoring as it racked up 20 points in the paint.

The Warriors (19-10) was behind for much of the first half and the first eight minutes of the second before finally pulling out to a 60-57 lead. Winona State built its lead up to six with 6:26 left after a pair of free throws. UMD could have laid down but decided not to quit. Freshman guard Xavier Cummings got four quick points to keep it close. Sophomore forward Brandon Myer scored the last four points of the game and tied the game at 72.

The Bulldogs had an opportunity to win the game in regulation but turned the ball over with five seconds and the Warriors missed a pull-up three at the buzzer.

Sophomore guard Logan Rohrscheib and Ngom started the overtime session with back-to-back three pointers. Junior forward Sean Burns laid in another basket as UMD stormed out to a 80-72 lead. Junior forward Ryan Kaczynski pushed it nine on a lay-up then Ngom all but ended it on a steal. 

The Bulldogs, who are the 41st best team at the charity stripe hitting 75.2 percent, kept knocking down their opportunities at the line as the lead ballooned to 15. UMD finished 20-for-26 at the free-throw line. 

The Warriors went cold in overtime as they missed all 11 shots until a final three with one second.

"We shot the ball really well," said head coach Matt Bowen. "We had a gameplan to spread them out and make our shots and we followed it. The one thing that I can take away is that this team had no interest in having their season end today. They decided that they didn't want to quit. It was a total team effort. We normally rely on Myer and Wilson but we had other players step up."

Ngom had a career high 18 points and tied his career high in rebounds with eight. Myer recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Burns was a interior threat as he compiled four blocks -- a new career high. Cummings also posted a career high in points, knocking down four of his six attempts and a pair of free throws for 11 points.