Minnesota, Morris 68
Bethany Lutheran 54

Box Score

By Taylor Lunemann (Sports Editor, University Register)

The Cougar men held off a physical Bethany Lutheran team to win their UMAC semifinal matchup at the P.E. Center. Final score, 68-54.

Thanks to an upset in St. Paul, UMM will host St. Scholastica in the UMAC tournament final Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Saints defeated top seed Northwestern College 75-71.

“It's tough to beat a team three times in one year.” Those were the words that seniors Kendall Proell and Phil Allen said going into their postseason matchup against the Bethany Lutheran Vikings.

Even though the Cougar men defeated Bethany in two blowouts during the regular season, they knew the Vikings were better than their record indicated. They bounced back from an 0-12 start to post a 9-5 conference record that left them tied with UMM. Their comeback rested largely on the short shoulders of guard Tommy Saffert (5'7”) who was named UMAC player of the year this week.

Cougar head coach Paul Grove sure was glad to have two certain brothers on his team for this game. Senior Joey Fragodt and junior Dan took charge on the defensive end of the floor, suffocating Saffert and the other Viking guards. Saffert would be held to just three points on 1 of 11 shooting.

Not usually known for his offensive play, Joey Fragodt showed incredible heart right out the gates by scoring 11 of his team high 13 points in the first half to give the Cougars a 41-29 lead at halftime.

On a night where the Cougars guards were having a rough night shooting the ball, the post players again took over to preserve the Cougar lead in the second half. Post play would account for 40 of the team's 68 points. They were led by senior Phil Allen who finished with 12 points on the night and sophomore Zach Meyer chipped in 11.

The Vikings made some runs in the second half to close the gap to single digits on a couple occasions, but each time the Cougars pushed the lead back, never allowing Bethany to get within a three-basket margin.

The UMM defense was buttressed by a solid night on the boards where the Cougars held a 45-33 advantage.

Game Notes: With 57 seconds remaining in the game, Proell found his center Mitch Primus running the floor for a wide open two handed dunk.

The Vikings never led in this game.