Box Score

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Senior Kevin Ratzsch (Bloomington, Ill.) scored 26 points to lead a trio of players in double figures Saturday afternoon, as the Northern State University Wolves held off a persistent Minnesota-Duluth squad to claim a 63-59 win in non-conference men's basketball action.

The Wolves improved to 5-0 on the year with the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Holiday HoopsFest win, while the Bulldogs slipped to 4-3 overall.

Ratzsch scored 16 of his 26 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers in a 10-0 Northern run to end the period.  That run, which covered the final 1:41 of the half, took the Wolves from a slim 1-point lead to a comfortable 11-point cushion heading into the break.  Ratzsch, a 6-foot-7 forward, started and finished that run with his 3-point buckets, while also assisting on layups by Mitch Boeck (Arlington, S.D.) and Kyle Schwan (Aberdeen, S.D.).

The Bulldogs made things interesting in the second half, cutting a 14-point NSU lead to just a 2-point cushion less than six minutes into the period.  After opening the half with a Boeck 3-pointer, the Wolves went without a field goal for more than seven and a half minutes during UMD's 12-point run.

NSU got back on the board on a Robert Thomas (Mankato, Minn.) layup at the 12:09 mark, followed by a pair of Schwan free throws to retain the lead.

The Bulldogs managed to cut the lead to three points on three more occasions in the half, but could never take control of the game, as NSU cleaned up defensive rebounds and converted on free throws to keep the Bulldogs at bay despite shooting just 37.5 percent from the field on the day.

 Thomas finished the game with a season-high 18 points to go along with nine boards.  Boeck also added 13 points and five steals for the Wolves, who committed just nine turnovers and 11 fouls as a team.

John Vaudreuil had 18 points to lead the way offensively for the Bulldogs.

The Wolves will be back in action tomorrow, taking on Bemidji State on Day 2 of the NISC HoopsFest.  Tip-off at Sioux Falls Arena is slated for 2 p.m.