DULUTH, Minn. --- It came down to the closing seconds Tuesday evening in Romano Gymnasium, but it was Minnesota Duluth that was able to come away with the 75-74 win over Minnesota State in the final second.

With the loss, MSU drops to 16-10 on the season, including a 12-6 NSIC record. With the win, UMD improves to 17-7, including a 12-6 conference record.

The early going on the first half favored the Bulldogs as they led 13-8 after the first six minutes. By the midpoint of the half UMD had added to its lead as the Bulldogs led 21-12 with 9:54 to go in the opening stanza. Senior Kyreese Willingham tallied five points for the Mavericks in the opening 10 minutes, while senior Justin Eagins notched four points.

MSU managed to get back within five points of the Bulldogs at 27-22, but back-to-back threes put the Bulldogs up by 11 at 33-22 with 3:50 go in the half. Undaunted, Minnesota State would finish the final 3:13 of the half on a 12-1 run, which included 10 more points from Willingham, to tie the game at 34-34 before halftime.

Willingham led all scorers in the first half with 18 points and six rebounds. Eagins and freshman Will Opsahl each notched six points in the opening stanza as well. As a team, MSU shot 43.3% from the field in the first 20 minutes, while scoring 10 points off of eight UMD turnovers.

Nick Katona led the Bulldogs in the first half with 10 points, while Joshua Brown added nine points and five rebounds. As a team, UMD shot 54.2% from the field in the first half.

The first nine minutes of the second half favored the Mavericks as they outscored the Bulldogs 27-17 to go up 61-51 with 11:05 to go. Sophomore Caden Kirkman and Willingham each netted eight points for the Mavericks during that stretch, while Eagins notched six. UMD managed to work its way back into the game with a 17-9 run of its own to cut MSU's lead to two points at 70-68 with 1:25 to go.

Both teams went to the line on their next possessions as UMD made it a one point game at 71-70 with 45 seconds to go. With the time ticking off the clock, the Mavericks then brought the ball up court before Eagins connected on his third three pointer of the game with 22.5 to go to put MSU up 74-71.

UMD answered with a quick layup to make it a two-point game at 74-72 with 11 seconds to go. Both teams would then make a trip to the line, with UMD making one of its two attempts to make it a one-point game at 74-73 with 10 seconds remaining.

With 4.8 seconds left, UMD was forced to foul again sending MSU to the line shooting the one and one. After the miss on the first attempt, UMD's Joshua Brown got the rebound and raced up court where he passed the ball to Matt Thompson who scored the game-winning dunk with 0.2 seconds left on the clock to give the Bulldogs the 75-74 win.

Willingham recorded his eighth career double-double as he tallied 28 points and 10 rebounds. Eagins finished with 17 points and six assists, while Opsahl added 14 points.

As a team, MSU shot 45.2% from the field, including a 10-of-28 (.357) showing from downtown. MSU also passed out 13 assists and forced 11 UMD turnovers.

Charlie Katona led the Bulldogs with 20 points, while Brown finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Austin Andrews added 17 points and seven rebounds as well.

As a team, UMD shot 56.0% from the field.

Minnesota State returns to action on Friday as is hosts Minot State. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Taylor Center.