MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team overcame a late eight-point deficit on Monday night, making defensive stops when they needed them to come back and defeat Martin Luther College, 83-82. The win is the second straight for the Cougars and improves them to 3-4 on the year and in UMAC play.

Martin Luther came out hot in the first half and raced to an 18-9 lead less than six minutes into the game. For Minnesota Morris, the first half was all about Kenneth Riley and Jaret Johnson. The duo combined for 28 points with Riley connecting on all six of his shots to spur a Cougar comeback. UMN Morris would lead by as many as seven in the first half and went to the locker rooms with a 45-39 lead after Riley threw up a wild floater just before the horn that touched every part of the rim before dropping through.

The Knights erased that deficit quickly in the second half, hitting back-to-back threes in the opening minute after halftime to knot the score at 45-45. Martin Luther continued its torrid shooting and soon built a 75-67 lead when Joey Behm scored on a short jumper inside. A turnover followed for UMN Morris and the Martin Luther lead had a chance to reach double-digits, but the Knights missed the shot and the Cougars raced down the floor led by Dillon Haider, who dished to Riley in stride for a three-pointer that cut it to 75-70 with 5:25 to play.

The looks stopped going down for Martin Luther in the final minutes and Minnesota Morris was happy to take advantage. Jarrett Kujava made a three with 4:27 to play to pull the Cougars within one and Haider followed with a transition three-pointer off a feed from Riley to give the lead back to UMN Morris at 78-77 with 2:37 left.

Martin Luther had gotten into foul trouble early in the second half and that began to pay dividends for the Cougars late in the game. Corbyn Alexander gave UMN Morris an 81-80 lead with a pair at the line with 1:40 left. After a shot from Behm gave the Knights their final lead at 82-81, Alexander was fouled on a rebound with about 22 seconds left. He calmly made both to put the Cougars ahead. On the final possession, Minnesota Morris locked in on Martin Luther and forced a prayer off the hands of Jack Heichelbech. The offensive rebound caromed out to Behm, but a shot at the final buzzer was well short to preserve the one-point win for the Cougars.

Riley led all scorers in the game with 19, shooting 7-of-8 from the field on the night. Johnson added 17 and had a team-high eight rebounds. Haider added 14 and Kujava came off the bench for 10. 

The Cougars wrap up the regular season at home on Feb. 27, hosting Senior Day against the University of Wisconsin-Superior starting at 3 p.m.