Morris, Minn. – Heading into the all-important Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament, the Minnesota Morris men's basketball team can ride the momentum of back-to-back wins after closing the regular season with a 72-47 win over visiting Northand today (Feb. 18)

Morris (11-14, 7-7 UMAC) led by 10 at the break, and then dominated the second half, holding Northland (5-20, 4-10 UMAC) to just 18 in the period as they cruised.

Playing one of their best defensive games of the year, the Cougars held the LumberJacks to less than 10 field goals in each half, as well as an 0-for-6 mark from three point range in the second half.

“We shot the ball well last night which was nice, we've been struggling on the offensive end a little bit,” head coach Paul Grove said. “And then today our defense was really really good so we're starting to put things together, guys are playing well. We've got some confidence and it's nice to go into the tournament like this, with confidence.”

Backing up their defense, the Cougars got production throughout the line-up, led once again by Derek Schmidt with a season high 20 points. He was the Cougars' only player to score in double figures, but four others finished with eight or nine points.

One of those was Kyle Bruns, who along with Schmidt and Zach Meyer paced the Cougars on senior night. Morris' elder statesmen combined for 34 points on the night – including a combined 10-of-11 at the free throw line – with 13 rebounds chipped in.

“They all played great,” Grove said. “They've won some big games here, and this was a huge weekend, just to make sure we got into the tournament. It was nice to see those guys rise up and get the job done. We've been going inside all year because of those three guys and they've all come through.”

The Cougars shot 48% (26-fo-54) from the field on the night, and had one of their best games of the season at the free throw line with a 82% (14-of-17) mark.

After Northland took a brief lead at 25-24 with 7:35 left to play in the first, the Cougars closed on a 15-to-4 run to lead by double digits as they went into the locker rooms. Then in the second it was all Cougars, opening up their lead to 20 for the first time at the 12:05 mark.

The win avenges an earlier loss to Northland, as the LumberJacks got the better of the Cougars on Jan. 27 in Ashland, Wis.

The Cougars have won their last two games by 15 and 25 points respectively, each time beating a team they had previously lost to. They will have another chance to do the same, when the open the UMAC Tournament taking on the only team to beat them twice. The test will be stiff, though, as they match up with regular season champ Bethany Lutheran. The Vikings were undefeated until falling in overtime to Crown tonight in the season finale.

Morris and Bethany Lutheran played a pair of close games in the regular season, with the Cougars falling on a buzzer-beater on Morris, before seeing a late lead evaporate in Mankato. They will tip-off at 7:30 in Mankato on Feb. 22.