VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Minnesota Morris (1-9) shot the ball well in the first half and built up a nine point lead in the second but went without a basket for nearly a seven minute span late, causing them to drop their eighth straight game. Valley City State (7-7) took a lead late and held on for a 76-72 win.
 
Five Cougars scored in double figures on the night, led by RJ Dean who had 15 points on 5-10 shooting. Tyler Ukkelburg had 13 points, Cody Emrick and John Haseman each added 11, and CD Douglas tacked on ten. Those five combined to make 19 of the Cougars 22 shots on the night. Valley City State made due in the paint, outscoring the Cougars 32-14 in that category.
 
Minnesota Morris trailed slightly early on but took an 8-7 lead and did not allow Valley City State to take the lead back until 7:51 mark of the first half. The Cougars lead was as large as five in the early going. The game bounced back and forth from the eight minute mark to the one minute mark in the first half as the game was either tied or the Vikings held a small lead.
 
The Cougars took a 35-34 lead with about a minute left in the first half and took the lead into the locker room up 36-34. Morris shot 52% from the field in the first half. They limited the Vikings to just two free throw attempts in the first 20 minutes of play. Emrick had eight points in the first half for the Cougars.
 
As the second half got underway the game remained extremely close as both teams continued to answer each other on the offensive side of the court. Haseman made his second three pointer of the game and only his third of the year to give the Cougars the 46-43 lead with 16 minutes left in the game.
 
Morris continued to hit from long range and they pushed their lead to nine after a three from RJ Dean. The Cougars hit seven of their first 14 shots from behind the arc in the game. By the midway point of the second half the Vikings had cut the lead in half, trailing UMM by just three, 58-55.
 
Valley City State kept coming and trailed by just one at 62-61 with 7:24 left in the game. Following a full timeout by the Cougars, UMM took a three point lead that was quickly erased by a Vikings three pointer. VCSU again tied the game at 66 and then took their first lead of the game since late in the first half. Morris went cold from the field and was held scoreless for almost five minutes as Valley City State increased their lead to 72-66.
 
UMM hit three free throws to pull within three at 72-69 but VCSU responded and went up 75-59. Emrick hit a three with four seconds left to pull UMM within three. It was the first basket for the Cougars in span of 6:45. It was too little too late as Morris fell 76-72.
 
The next game for the Cougars will be January 6 at Presentation.