DULUTH, Minn. - St. Scholastica used a late first half run to build a halftime lead that they would not relinquish and downed Minnesota Morris 88-77 Saturday in UMAC men's basketball action in Duluth.

The Cougars shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half and would see their lead get to as high as 9 on multiple occasions. Tied at 11 early, CD Douglas scored seven points in a 10-2 Cougar run that saw them take a 21-13 lead. Moments later, a Tyler Ukkelberg 3 put the Cougars up 26-17 halfway through the first half. After a mini Saints run, another Ukkelberg 3 kept the Cougars up by 9 at 31-22 with 7:45 left in the half. That was the last made basket the Cougars would make in the half as the Saints closed  the half on a 17-1 run to take a 39-32 lead into halftime.

St. Scholastica would use that momentum to extend their lead in the second half which got as high as 19 at 61-42 eight minutes into the half. The Cougars did cut the deficit to single digits following an Ukkelberg lay-in with 5:29 remaining, but that was all the closer they would get.

Noah Grove led the Cougars with 20 points. Ukkelberg scored 19 on 5-for-8 shooting from distance. Douglas added 15 points while Anthony Fisher contributed with 11.

Minnesota Morris (8-7, 4-4 in UMAC) returns to Jim Gremmels Court Friday for a home date with Northland at 7:30 p.m.