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St. Paul, Minn. – Playing in their second straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Championship Game, the Minnesota Morris men's basketball team could not recreate the magic of a year ago, as they lost 73-60 to Northwestern tonight (Feb. 26).
Second-seeded Morris (15-12) struggled all night long, putting up 71 shots – their second highest tally of the season – but finished just 32% (23-of-71) from the floor. The Cougars trailed by as must as 16 in the first half, before going into halftime down 11 at 40-29.
Host, and top-seeded, Northwestern (21-6) finished shooting 44% (27-of-61) on the night, with four Eagle players reaching double figures, with two more at nine points.
The Cougars took their only lead two minutes in when Steve Birman (Duluth, Minn.) nailed a three to put his team up temporarily at 3-2. Birman finished as the Cougars leading scorer with 17, finishing his first UMAC Tournament with back-to-back 17-point performances.
The Eagles answered the Birman three with a 12-to-2 run and led 14-5 at the 14:13 mark. A four-point-play by Brendon Foss (Hancock, Minn.) briefly halted the Eagles' run, bringing the Cougars within in five at 14-9 at the 12:50 mark, but that was as close as they would get in the first half.
After going down as much at 16 when Northwestern made it 36-20 with 4:02 left, Morris put a run of their own together, outscoring the Eagles 9-to-2 over a 2:37 stretch late to pull within nine at 38-29 with 1:39 left.
An Eric Dalbey (Mora, Minn.) three-point-play capped the run, but Northwestern closed the first half scoring with a lay-up at the 1:14 mark. In his final game in a Cougar uniform Dalbey finished with 11 points, ending his career with 1,290 to move into 12th place on the Cougars all-time list.
Fellow senior Daniel Fragodt (Benson, Minn.) finished with seven points and 10 rebounds in his Cougar finale.
The Eagles picked up in the second half where they left off in the first, going up by as much as 27 before the Cougars closed the gap late. Morris outscored Northwestern 19-to-5 over the final 8:32 of the game – including 11-to-0 at one point – but it was too little too late as the Eagles clinched a championship.
Foss was the only other Cougar in double figures, collecting his first career double-double with 12 points and a team high 12 rebounds.
Northwestern will now move on to represent the UMAC in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars end the season with an identical record as last season, tying for the second most wins in the Grove era. They graduate just two players from a team that went 10-4 in conference play and advanced to their second straight Conference Tournament Championship Game.
