ASHLAND, Wis. - Beating a team three times in one season is never easy; Minnesota Morris proved that to be true. Despite losing to Northland twice in the regular season, the Cougars men's basketball team defeated the Lumberjacks when it mattered most, in a UMAC Tournament quarterfinal game Monday night, 89-76.

Early on, it was a 3-point scoring barrage for both teams. Northland's Maverick Harris hit a pair of 3s and in between Tyler Ukkelberg connected from deep. Northland's Dan Campion hit back-to-back 3s which were book-ended by Jeremy Halverson shots from deep. After the exchange of 3s, Northland held a 16-13 edge.

The Cougars later tied it at 18. The remainder of the first half was a back-and-forth affair. Minnesota Morris led 36-35 lead late in the half before a Dylan Erickson 3 in the closing seconds gave the Cougars their biggest lead at 39-35 at halftime.

Northland cut Minnesota Morris' lead to 41-40 early in the second half, before the Cougars went on a game-changing run, keyed by the Halverson brothers, that resulted in a double-digit advantage. Jeremy started the spurt with a 3 and was followed by a pair of baskets from Jeffrey. Jeremy added another 3, and count in four free throws from CD Douglas, the Cougars went on a 14-2 run that resulted in a 55-42 edge.

The Lumberjacks got the lead down to single digits briefly at 58-50 before a John Haseman 3 pushed the lead back to double figures at 61-50 with eight minutes remaining. The Cougars lead would not get below 10 the rest of the way. The key to holding a comfortable edge was the Cougars' foul shooting. Minnesota Morris was 22-of-26 from the charity stripe in the second half, which included an incredible 17-for-18 effort from Douglas. He finished the game with 23 points. Ukkelberg added 16 points and Jeremy Halverson added 13.

The win advances Minnesota Morris (15-11) to the UMAC semifinals where they will play at No. 1 seed Northwestern Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles swept the Cougars in the regular season.