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University of Minnesota Morris Athletics

Official Athletics Website of The University of Minnesota Morris
Halverson
78
Minn.-Morris M-1226
96
Winner Crown (MN) M-30035
Minn.-Morris M-1226
78
Final
96
Crown (MN) M-30035
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Minn.-Morris M-1226 37 41 78
Crown (MN) M-30035 45 51 96

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Cougars fall to Storm in Conference opener

St. Bonifacius, Minn. - Looking to rebound from Sunday's non-conference loss to Mayville State University, the University of Minnesota Morris Men's basketball team travel to Crown College to open up conference play. 

The Cougars certainly battled throughout the contest, but were unable to weather the storm, falling 96-78 in their Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) opener Wednesday. 

The Storm jumped out to a commanding 12-4 lead early in the contest after cold shooting and a pair of turnovers by the Cougars. Then the Halverson brothers started to heat up. Jeffrey Halverson got the scoring started for the Cougars in a big way, scoring the team's first 10 points of the contest. When the defense started to shift toward Jeffrey, Jeremy stepped in without missing a beat. a three-pointer by Jeremy at the 7:43-mark of the first half help cut the lead to a single possession. It was a strong performance for the duo that scored 18 of the Cougars' 37 first half points. In 29 minutes of action, Jeffrey Halverson led the Cougars with 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting (8-15 FG, 2-5 3pt) and grabbed eight rebounds while Jeremy Halverson scored 14 points on 8-of-12 shooting (5-7 FG, 3-5 3pt). He also recorded six rebounds, two blocks and dished an assist. 

The Cougars appeared to make it just a two possession contest after James Pendleton knocked down a jumper with 27 seconds left until Crown's Timothy Wendel's three-pointer at the buzzer extended the lead to 45-37. 

The major key of the game was points off turnovers. Crown College was able to score 22 points off Cougar turnovers while Minnesota Morris managed just eight. It appeared to ab an all around performance in which the Cougars were attempting to equalize. The Storm held an advantage in second chance points (11 to 8), points off the bench (17-13) and fast break points (15-4). What could be the deciding factor was the Cougars inability to slow down Crown College's ability to score in the paint. 54 of the Storm's 96 points came from down low. 

The Cougars played catch up for much of the second half, managing to cut the lead to a single possession on numerous occasions, but were unable to obtain the lead. 

Senior Noah Grove recorded a double-double for Minnesota Morris, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He also recorded a pair of assists. Much of Grove's damage to the Storm was done from the charity stripe, going 5-for-8. 

The Cougars (2-5, 0-1 UMAC) will look to snap the two-game skid Saturday as they play host to the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Tip-off is set for 4:45 P.M. 
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