MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team outlasted the Crown College Storm, 76-74, in overtime Thursday night at the Cougar Sports Center. Senior Noah Grove scored 20 points in the victory.

Along with Grove's 20-point outing, Jeffrey Halverson scored 19 points and recorded 12 rebounds, while James Pendleton tallied 17 points of his own.

"That was not a typical Crown-Morris game," head coach Paul Grove said. "But if we have to win it this way, than we will."

Thursday's game was a close-contest between two teams fighting for a spot in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament as the game remained within single-digits during the entire 45 minutes of play.

With the game tied at 5-5 with 16:51 left in the opening half, Halverson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a 11-5 contest for the Cougars at 14:55.

After 20 minutes of action, Crown College (12-8, 6-5 UMAC) held a 34-31 lead over Minnesota Morris (8-12, 5-6 UMAC).

The Cougars held their largest lead of the night at 55-46 as Nick Peterson made a jumper with 7:18 to go in the second half. The Storm would go on to outscore the Cougars, 17-8, to make it 63-63, as Josh Volness connected on a jumper with 42 seconds left.

Pendleton then stepped up for a clutch basked with 20 seconds remaining in regulation to give Morris a 65-63 lead. As time expired in regulation, Volness beat the buzzer and was able to force overtime with the score tied at 66-66.

During the extra frame, it was the Morris seniors that led the way, as Grove, Jeffrey Halverson and Jeremy Halverson scored eight of the 10 points for the Cougars.

The Cougars took a 68-66 lead on a basket from Pendleton with 3:38 to go, but Crown scored five straight points to make it 71-68. Minnesota Morris responded with back-to-back baskets from Jeffrey Halverson to put Morris up 72-71.

With just eight seconds to play, Jeremy Halverson's free throw put the Cougars up 76-74 and then Adam Lechelt's 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good to secure the victory for the Cougars.

Minnesota Morris travels to Mankato, Minnesota, to take on Bethany Lutheran on Saturday, Feb. 2, with tip-off set for 4:45 p.m. Bethany Lutheran is currently in second in the UMAC standings with a record of 10-2.