Springborn and Richardson Lead MTU With Nine Points

DULUTH, Minn. -- Minnesota Duluth (2-1, 0-0 NCC) knocked off the Michigan Tech (0-3, 0-0 GLIAC) basketball team 59-47 in both team's opening game of the American Family Insurance Classic at Romano Gymnasium Friday night.

The Huskies trailed by a 24-23 clip at halftime, but the visitors led for much of the first half. Tim Strom's baseline jumper at 12:46 gave Tech a 12-5 advantage, in what proved to be MTU's biggest lead of the contest. UMD responded with a 19-9 run to end the opening frame.

Minnesota Duluth outscored Michigan Tech by a 35-24 count in the second half, as John Emerson turned in 10 points and Sean Seaman provided nine points to pace the Bulldogs in the closing session.

Neither team led by more than six points until the final 2:20 of the contest, when Ryan Breidenbach converted back-to-back layups to give Minnesota Duluth a 54-44 cushion. From there, Tech was forced to foul and UMD was able to convert five of six shots from the charity stripe and went on to win by 12.

Michgian Tech's top offensive performers were Robby Springborn and Radayl Richardson, who each finished with nine points. Springborn turned in a team-high five assists, while Richardson chipped in five boards. Tim Strom and Ed Ross each tallied six points and the tandem contributed six and eight boards, respectively.

Seaman notched a game-high 13 points for the Bulldogs and Emerson was second on UMD's squad with 12 points.

MTU shot 38 percent from the floor, compared to a 45 percent mark for Minnesota Duluth.

The Huskies challenge St. Cloud State tomorrow afternoon in their final game of the American Family Insurance Classic at 4 p.m.