MORRIS, Minn. – For the first time since 2011 the Cougars men's basketball team will play in a UMAC Championship. Minnesota Morris (12-14) beat North Central (12-13) 79-64 on Wednesday night and will now play at Northwestern on Saturday night for a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. Neil Helgeson led the Cougars with 18 points on the night.
 
It was tight in the early going as both teams were figuring out ways to beat the defense. UMM held a one point lead, 11-10, with just under 13 minutes to play in the first half. North Central took their second lead of the game at 13-11 and the two teams would trade leads three more times over the next few minutes. When the Rams took a 16-15 lead with about nine minutes to play in the half they would hold on to it for a while. Morris never recaptured the lead in the first half and North Central led by five at the break.
 
Joe Roggenbuck had six first half points to go along with five rebounds. RJ Dean had four points and four rebounds. Both teams shot almost identical in first half with the Rams having a slight edge, 42.4% to 42.3%.
 
Minnesota Morris would begin the second half with a 9-2 run, taking a 35-33 lead after three minutes of play. The Rams tied at 35 but Morris scored eight straight to take a 43-35 lead at the 14 minute mark. The lead would balloon to 11 with 12:40 on the clock. The Rams made one more run at the Cougars, using a 14-6 run to cut the lead to three with just under seven minutes to play. It would be as close as they got as Morris responded with a 15-3 run to ice the game away.
 
Morris shot 53.3% from the field in the second half to overcome the halftime deficit. Four Cougars finished in double figures. In addition to Helgeson's 18, CD Douglas had 16, Roggenbuck had 15 and Kevin Heysee had ten. Morris controlled the paint, scoring 42 points inside.
 
The Cougars will take on Northwestern at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night.