DULUTH, Minn. – It was a slight adventure in the end but Minnesota Morris (9-11, 7-2 UMAC) held on for a 62-60 win on the road at St. Scholastica (9-11, 5-4 UMAC).
Neil Helgeson led the offense with 16 points on the night.
John Haseman added ten and five rebounds.
RJ Dean and
Dylan Erickson each tacked on nine.
Both the Saints and Cougars traded buckets consistently for a majority of the first half. Neither team had a lead larger than three until Scholastica took a 24-20 lead with just over six minutes to play in the half. Helgeson scored ten of the Cougars first 16 points on 4-5 shooting and two made threes.
Morris took a small lead at 29-27 after
Dylan Erickson made his third straight three of the night. Erickson would finish the night with nine points in nine minutes of play. St. Scholastica finished the half on a 5-0 run to take a 32-29 lead into the locker room.
St. Scholastica scored out of the break and took their largest lead of the game going up five. The Cougars quickly cut that down to one at 34-33 as counter punching remained the game trend. The Saints built their lead back, going up 43-37 with over 12 minutes to play.
Morris tied the game at 43 with a quick 6-0 run, including four points in about five seconds. Morris took their first lead of the game since 29-27, on a bucket by
Isaac Sawyer. Morris led by four before the Saints would score, ending the 10-0 run. Morris was clinging to a small lead in the final minutes of the game, trying to withstand the Saints offensive attack.
The Saints pulled back within one at 55-54 with 2:44 left in the game. After an empty possession for both teams Sawyer hit two free throws, giving UMM a three point lead. The Saints would pull within two but Helgeson made a nice finger roll in the lane pushing the lead to four at 59-55. CSS came up empty on their next two possessions and
RJ Dean extended the lead to 62-55 at the foul line with 23 seconds left.
Morris looked to have iced the game but the Saints banked in a three and made a layup after two missed FT's to pull within two at 62-60 and 3.5 seconds on the clock. Morris would turn the ball over but luckily the Saints did the same thing as a player stepped on the sideline and the Cougars held on for a 62-60 victory.
Minnesota Morris forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 16 points proving to be the big difference in the game. The Cougars bench helped out once again, scoring 31 points on the evening. Fifteen of UMM's 33 points in the second half came at the foul line.
Next up, the Cougars will attempt to avenge a loss to Northland tomorrow evening at 5 p.m.
