MORRIS, Minn. - After a 95-54 loss to a tough Saint John's squad, the Minnesota Morris men's basketball team needed to recoup and refocus for the home opener against Concordia College (Minn.) Thursday night.
While it was a battle early, Senior Noah Grove took over and the Cougars never looked back.
Leading all scorers with 19 points, Grove and the Cougars halted a late comeback attempt by Concordia to secure the first win of the season 81-80 on Jim Gremmels Court inside the PE Center.
The Cougars and Cobbers traded blows back-and-forth before Grove's free throws attempts gave Minnesota Morris the much-needed momentum to build a comfortable seven-point lead with just over three minutes remaining in the half. The Cougars finished the first half with a 10-1 run to extend the lead to 44-36 at the half.
The deciding factor in the game was the play at the charity stripe. Led by Grove's perfect 7-for-7 showing, the Cougars shot 15-for-18 at the stripe while only surrendering three attempts in the first half. In fact, for the game, the Cougars went 30-36 from the line while the Cobbers made only completed on three of their eight visits. For much of the second half, Minnesota Morris maintained a double-digit lead, with the closest Cobbers deficit being eight points.
That was when Concordia started to heat up from beyond the arch.
Connecting on seven shots from three-point land, the Cobbers were able to but the Cougars lead to four (75-71) with just over a minute left to play in the contest. After shooting 4-of-12 from three-point territory in the first half, Concordia connected on 7-of-their-12 attempts in the second half. Leading the Cobbers comeback was Collin Larson and Cal Wright. Larson was 4-for-7 from beyond the arch while Wright went 4-for-6.
However, James Pendleton's five successful attempts from the free-throw line provided the Cougars with a six-point cushion. Pendleton went 5-for-6 at the line and 4-of-7 from the field for 13 points on 32 minutes. A Grove free throw with just four seconds remaining would give Minnesota Morris the deciding blow, despite Wright's three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Cougars (1-0) will travel to Grand Forks, N.D. Saturday to face the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks in an exhibition game inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Tip-off is set for 3 P.M.
