ST. PETER, Minn. - Minnesota Morris faced three MIAC foes in non-conference play earlier this season and were on the losing side all three times. In their fourth matchup against a MIAC opponent in 2017, the Cougar men's basketball team came away with a nice road win over Gustavus Adolphus Saturday, 76-71, in St. Peter.
The Cougars trailed by 2 at 27-25 with 2:45 left in the first half, but closed with a 13-3 run to take a 38-30 lead into the break.
CD Douglas gave UMM the lead with back-to-back layups.
James Pendleton followed with an acrobatic 3-point play on a lay-in while being fouled.
Darius Westrich and
Nick Peterson came off the bench to drain 3s in the final minute of the half to give the Cougars their 8-point edge.
Minnesota Morris did a great stop of halting Gustie runs in the second half. Gustavus pulled within 3 early in the second half, but the Cougars pushed it back up to 9 with the help of 3s from
Jeffrey Halverson and Douglas. The Cougar lead would get to as high as 11 at 53-42 following a
Noah Grove 3-point play.
Gustavus went on a 10-3 spurt to pull within 4, but shortly after, the Cougars were back up by 9 following another Peterson shot from deep.
The Gusties would finally break through to take a 68-65 lead with 3:33 remaining, but the Cougars would close the game on an 11-3 run to claim the road win. Halverson tied the game at 68 with a 3. A Douglas lay-in gave the Cougars the lead at 70-68. After a GAC 3, Douglas countered with a jumper to regain the edge for UMM at 72-71 with 1:49 left. The Cougars withstood three Gustavus missed jumpers on the next possession. Douglas rebounded the final miss, drew the foul and drained two free throws. Gustavus missed another 3 in the closing seconds and Halverson closed out the win with two free throws.
Douglas led the Cougars with 19 points. Grove had a near double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Halverson added 11 points.
Minnesota Morris (4-7) stays in south central Minnesota for their next game, Wednesday at Bethany Lutheran in Mankato.
