Morris, Minn. – After seeing a second half lead slip away, the Minnesota Morris men's basketball team but the breaks on a potential Presentation comeback and pulled away late for an 81-71 win on Jim Gremmels Court tonight (Jan. 31).

The Cougars were able to turn the tables on the Saints from their second meeting of the season, as it was Presentation, who held on late for a win earlier this month, holding off a late Morris rally to escape with a win in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) opener.

The Cougars (7-11, 4-4 UMAC) led by as much as 11 in the second half, but the Saints (7-1, 3-5 UMAC) went on a 14-to-3 run to tie the game at 56-56 with 8:12 left to play.

After seeing the score fall back to even, the Cougars clamped down and were able to maintain at least a slim lead, never trailing over the next five minutes. Then with 3:34 left, Derek Schmidt hit his final two free throws to give the Cougars a five-point cushion, and on the next possession Ben Hoidal started a 9-to-0 Cougar run to put the game away.

It the second half, Morris shot nearly 60% (14-of-24) from the field, led by 10 points in the half from Schmidt who finished with a season high 18 on the night, hitting the mark for the fourth time. The Cougar's leading scorer, Schmidt went a pedestrian 2-of-3 from the floor in the second half, but made his mark with a 6-of-7 half at the free throw line to scored in double figures for the 17th time on the season, as 16th game in a row.

As a team, the Cougars had easily their best night from the charity stripe, finishing with an 86% (25-of-29) tally for the game, which included a 10-of-11 count in the first half. They top 80% for the first time all season, bettering their previous best of 74% from Dec. 9. They also improve to 3-1 when shooting 70% or better from the line.

Led by 11 first half points from Hoidal, the Cougars were able to take a 37-30 lead into the halftime locker room. He went on to finish with a career high 17, including a 4-of-5 night at the line. Meanwhile, Logan Orazem finished a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line, on his way to 10 points, while adding five rebounds, a team high five assists, one block and one steal.

The win moves the Cougars into sole possession of fourth place in the league standings with three weekends left to play. They also remain just one game behind Northwestern for third place, with an outside chance of moving up into a top-two spot to secure a first round home game in the UMAC Tournament, three games behind second place St. Scholastics who has just one loss.

First up, though, this weekend they pay a return trip to Martin Luther on Feb. 3, before taking on unbeaten and league leader Bethany Lutheran on Feb. 4. Game times are 7:30 and 5:00 p.m. respectively.