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orris, Minn. – Down five at the break – and tied with less than four minutes to go – the Minnesota, Morris men's basketball team put a late run together to beat visiting Crown 83-78 this evening (Jan. 15) on Jim Gremmels Court.
The Cougars (5-8, 2-1 UMAC) took their first lead since the opening minute of play just 2:20 into the second half on a Daniel Fragodt (Benson, Minn.) steal-and-score, and led 44-43 at the 17:40 mark. The scoring play was part of a 9-0 run to open the half, capped by a Steve Birman (Duluth, Minn.) three at 17:09 that put UMM up 47-43. Birman hit four threes in the game on his way to a game high 23 points.
The long ball was the Achilles heel of the Cougars in the first half, as they allowed eight in the period, including four to the Storm's (1-10, 1-2 UMAC) RJ Walker who carried his team with four in the half. The Cougars turned up the D in the second, including shutting down Walker before he eventually fouled out late in the game.
After taking the lead, UMM led for the majority of the second half, but a resilient Crown squad fought back to tie the game at 70-all with just 3:53 to go. However, as they did to open the period, the Cougars strung together a shutout run, this time outscoring the Storm 7-0 capped by an way-to-deep Eric Dalbey (Mora, Minn.) three as the shot clock waned.
Down the stretch, the Cougars forced four missed shots while Dalbey and Birman combined to go 6-of-6 at the free throw line to seal the win.
Dalbey finished with 19 on the night, his third straight game in double figures and best mark of the season since returning from injury just six games ago. Fragodt added 12 with a season high eight boards and Derek Schmidt (East Grand Forks, Minn.) bettered all players with a season high 10 rebounds.
The Cougars out rebounded the Storm 34-to-23 with +11 margin as their best since the season opener. UMM pulled down 14 rebounds on the offensive end, and turned them into 14 second chance points.
The Cougars held a slight edge in shooting over the Storm, making 50% (28-of-56) of their field goals compared to 47% (27-of-57) for the Storm, but it was turnovers that made that made the difference. Despite each team giving it away 16 times, it was the Cougars who were able to capitalize, turning the Storm miscues into 23 points, while Crown was only able to score nine.
The Cougars have now won back-to-back games since the first two games of the season, and sit tied with Northwestern and St. Scholastica for second in the league with a 2-1 UMAC record. Only Bethany Lutheran remains unbeaten at 3-0, but UMM won't have to wait long to have their say in the top of the league standings.
The Cougars and Vikings square off next, taking the court in Mankato, Minn. on Jan. 21. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
