MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with Bethany Lutheran College for close to 30 minutes on Saturday evening before the Vikings used a 15-0 run to pull away from the Cougars for a 98-80 victory. The loss sends UMN Morris to 8-15 (3-9 UMAC) on the season. 

The final score was not reflective of a game that featured seven ties and 18 lead changes. The Cougars twice had leads of five points in the first half. The second one came late with a 7-0 run started by a Noah Kannegiesser layup to knot the score at 44-44 before Dillon Haider hit a three-pointer and a short jumper in quick succession to take a 49-44 lead with a minute remaining before the break. Another bucket from Haider in the final seconds allowed the Cougars to go to the break with a 51-49 advantage.

The lead continued to change hands throughout the opening nine minutes of the second half. With just over 11 minutes remaining, a jumper from Jaret Johnson sliced the Bethany Lutheran lead to 70-69. That was as close as it would get for Minnesota Morris. A scoring drought of over five minutes followed, during which time Bethany Lutheran scored 15 unanswered to go on top, 85-69. A layup from Kannegiesser to finally end the scoreless streak brought the Cougars to within 14, but they would get no closer the rest of the way.

Kannegiesser led all scorers in the game with 25. Ian Carlin added 12 points and Haider had 10. 

Minnesota Morris returns to Jim Gremmels Court for two games next weekend to wrap up the regular season. First up is a 7:15 p.m. matchup on Feb. 18 against the University of Wisconsin-Superior.