MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team overcame an early deficit, built a comfortable lead, and then held on at the end for an exciting 73-70 victory over Concordia College-Moorhead to open up the 2021-22 season on Friday night at Jim Gremmels Court.

Concordia came out hot, hitting its first two shots to take a 5-0 lead inside 45 seconds. The Cobbers would go on to take their biggest lead of the night, 13-6, with just over five minutes gone on a three-pointer from Jackson Jangula. Minnesota Morris responded back with a 7-0 run courtesy of a three-pointer from James Pendleton and layups from Jaret Johnson and Tath Dak to tie the game up at 13-13.

The game remained closer the rest of the first half. Concordia once again built a five-point lead, but that was erased and then some by a 10-2 run from Minnesota Morris that featured a pair of baskets from Ian Carlin, a three from Pal Dak, and a three-point play from Dillon Haider. The Cougars led by four in the final minute of the half, but the last two buckets went to the Cobbers and the contest went to the intermission tied up at 41-41.

The second half remained as close as the first half much of the way. But with the score knotted up at 55-55 at the midway point, the Cougars suddenly went on a 7-0 run and seized the lead for good. Jarrett Kujava started things off with a tough layup and that was followed by a Tath Dak driving layup. Johnson finished the sequence with a three to force a timeout from the Cobbers with just under eight minutes to play.

In the last four minutes, a Tath Dak layup put Minnesota Morris ahead by nine, 66-57. Things tightened up quickly with a 6-0 run from Concordia, but Pal Dak nailed a big corner three to re-establish a six-point lead, 69-63, as the clock rolled under two minutes. The six-point lead held up until the final seconds when Jangula made a free throw, the Cougars missed a pair at the stripe, and Jangula then got a runout for a layup with two seconds left to slice the UMN Morris lead down to 73-70. After failing to inbound the ball and turning it over to the Cobbers with one second left on the clock, the Cougars clinched the win as Pal Dak delivered an emphatic block on an attempted three-pointer that could have sent the game to overtime.

Other than the Dak brothers, Johnson also reached double-figures with 13 points and Carlin added 10. Kobe Jenson snared a team-high nine rebounds off the bench.

Minnesota Morris goes on the road to face Macalester College in St. Paul on Nov. 11 starting at 7 p.m.