DULUTH — The No. 17 Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team had no answer for Minnesota Duluth’s interior dominance on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs outscored SMSU 34-16 in the paint, handing SMSU its second loss in three games by a final score of 63-44.

SMSU had been on an eight-game win streak before falling to Augustana last week. The Mustangs bounced back with a road win over Sioux Falls on Saturday, but fell again to UMD on Wednesday.

Despite the pair of losses, however, Minot State’s 85-73 loss to Minnesota State University-Moorhead on Wednesday keeps SMSU’s one-game lead for first place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference intact.

Duluth seized momentum from the opening tip off, scoring each of Wednesday’s first 13 points. Dunwa Omot ended SMSU’s drought with a jump shot more than eight minutes into the game, but the Mustangs never recovered and went into halftime facing a 31-20 deficit.

Landon Pokorski was the lone Mustang to reach double figures on the day, scoring 10 points on 3 of 5 shooting. Omot added another 9 points on 4 of 9 shooting while Mason Lund and Jakob Braaten each added another six points.

For the Bulldogs, Charlie Katona led the way with 19 points while Joshua Brown added another 14. Austin Andrews also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds with four assists for the Bulldogs.

UMD’s efforts on the glass translated to a 43-25 rebounding advantage and a 10-4 edge on the offensive glass. Steven Kramer led SMSU with seven rebounds, all defensive.

SMSU shot 31% from the field and 28% from 3 (7-25) in the game, while Duluth shot 46% from the field and 28% from 3 (5-18).

SMSU built a narrow 13-16 advantage in the turnover battle but was still outscored 9-8 in points off those turnovers. Braaten accounted for four of SMSU’s seven steals while Omot and Lund each blocked a shot.

SMSU (18-5, 13-4 NSIC) aims to maintain its narrow lead for first place in the NSIC when it hosts fifth-place Winona State (16-7, 11-6 NSIC) for Tropical Night on Saturday at 5 p.m.