The backcourt tandem of Julian Welch and Chip Armelin came off the bench to spark Minnesota late in the second half, and the Golden Gophers rallied for a 76-69 win over Indiana State in the winner’s bracket semifinals of the Old Spice Classic on Friday afternoon in Orlando.

Welch, a transfer from UC-Davis, scored a season-high 15 points and Armelin had 12 as the Gophers remained undefeated.

Minnesota (6-0, 0-0 Big Ten) advances to face either Dayton or Fairfield in the Old Spice championship game on Sunday night at 7 p.m.

Down 40-33 at the break, Minnesota played from behind for most of the second half but found its groove with Welch and Armelin at the two guard spots. A coast-to-coast layup by Welch put the Golden Gophers in front 63-62 with 3:35 to go. The two squads exchanged the lead three more times until a layup by Armelin put Minnesota ahead 67-66. That bucket cued a 6-0 run by Minnesota, which hit enough free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Minnesota’s Trevor Mbakwe was cold from the floor but totaled nine points and nine rebounds to finish just shy of his fifth double-double of the season.

Jordan Printy scored 17 points for Indiana State, which got 13 from Jake Odum. The Sycamores (5-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley) made eight 3-pointers in the first half but went to more of an inside game in the second half. ISU went just 2-of-6 from long range after intermission.