MANKATO, Minn. --- A close first half gave way to a dominant performance by the Minnesota State football team in the second half as the Mavericks raced past the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs with a 44-17 victory in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

With the win, MSU improves to 13-0 on the season, while UMD ends its season with a 13-1 record. The Mavericks will now take on the Concord Mountain Lions in the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 13. The site and game time are to be determined.

The Mavericks have now won 13 games this season, matching the previous single-season record set during the 2012 season. MSU also posted a new single-season record of 553 points scored, passing the previous mark of 526 points scored during the 2013 season.

The first half featured a close affair with MSU posting 10 points in the first quarter, with UMD responding with 10 points in the second quarter. Sophomore Ricky Lloyd connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass with senior Austin Rieder to put MSU up by seven, before junior Alden Haffar extended MSU's lead to 10 with a 24-yard field goal.

The Bulldogs responded with a 27-yard field goal from Andrew Brees and a three-yard touchdown run by Drew Bauer to knot up the score at 10-10 heading into halftime. Prior to Bauer's touchdown run, the Bulldogs blocked an MSU punt and took over on the MSU three yard line.

MSU responded right away in the third quarter as Haffar nailed a 32-yard field goal to put MSU up 13-10. On UMD's next drive, junior Tyler Henderson recovered a fumble at the UMD 46, which led to an 11-yard touchdown pass from Lloyd to junior Bryce Duncan to give the Mavericks a 20-10 lead.

On MSU's next drive, Lloyd connected with senior Dorian Buford on a 46-yard touchdown pass to put the Mavericks up 27-10 with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter. With his touchdown catch, Buford set a new MSU single-season touchdown reception record with 15 touchdown catches.

The Bulldogs managed to pull within 10 of the Mavericks at 27-17, but that was as close as they would get as MSU tallied 17 points in the fourth quarter, en route to the 44-17 win. Haffar notched his third field goal of the game as he connected on a 38-yard try, before juniors Connor Thomas and Chad Zastrow each tallied two-yard touchdown runs.

Lloyd finished his day connecting on 14-of-24 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Buford led the MSU receiving corps with 110 receiving yards and a touchdown. This is the fourth time this season Buford as eclipsed 100 receiving yards in a game.

Thomas led the Maverick rushing attack with 135 rushing yards and a touchdown. This is the sixth time this season, and 10th time in his career, he has rushed for more than 100 rushing yards.

While the Mavericks did not give up any turnovers, the Maverick defense tallied four including three fumble recoveries and an interception.

Junior Josh Gordon tied for the team lead in tackles with eight and produce one of the Maverick fumble recoveries, while forcing two. Henderson and sophomore Marcus Gooden each recovered a fumble as well, while junior Rumeal Harris intercepted a UMD pass. Junior Rob Myers and freshman Cory Brent each tallied eight tackles as well.