MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team battled throughout the afternoon to keep things close with the University of Northwestern, but the Cougars could never get over the hump and take the lead in the final minutes, succumbing to the Eagles by a score of 83-75. UMN Morris drops to 4-8 (0-2 UMAC), while UNW improves to 6-3 (2-0 UMAC).

Minnesota Morris opened the game well, going on an 8-0 run in the early minutes of the game to take a 10-6 lead. Though Northwestern came back, the Cougars were able to re-establish a four-point lead on three more occasions in the first half, the last of which came on an offensive rebound and putback from Maverick Conn to make it 27-23 with nine minutes to go until the half.

Northwestern went on a 7-0 run after that to take the lead, but a Will McBee bucket tied things up at 34-34. The Eagles closed the half strong and knocked down a pair at the foul line in the final seconds to take a 46-40 lead into the break.

The second half opened with a three-pointer from KJ Riley and a layup from Pal Dak to trim the deficit to one in the first minute. Other than one tie at 49-49, Northwestern maintained its lead throughout the second half, but the Cougars were never out of it. A McBee layup off a feed from Dillon Haider made the score 70-69 in favor of the Eagles with just over six minutes left to play.

Over the next 13 combined possessions, neither team was able to score, leaving just over three minutes remaining when Owen Boerema broke the drought for Northwestern. Pal Dak immediately came down and scored at the rim for the Cougars and following another basket from the Eagles, Noah Kannegiesser answered with a short jumper to once again make it a one-point game. 

With under two minutes to play, a good defensive possession for Minnesota Morris was ruined by a Noah Alm step-back jumper and Riley was called for an offensive foul on the other end. A three-pointer from UNW's Caleb Hoilien put the Eagles up six just a few seconds later and four points was the closest the Cougars would get from there as Northwestern closed it out with a three-point play from Boerema that put the game out of reach.

Kannegiesser led Minnesota Morris in scoring on the night with 19. Pal Dak added 12 and Ian Carlin contributed 10 along with five rebounds. McBee had seven points and a team-best seven rebounds.

Minnesota Morris is now off until January 8 when the Cougars host Crown College at 3 p.m.