ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team ended its 2021-22 season on Wednesday night with an 82-60 loss to Crown College in the quarterfinals of the UMAC Tournament. The Cougars wrap up the year at 8-18 overall.

After Ian Carlin put Minnesota Morris ahead on the opening possession of the game, Crown reeled off six straight for an early edge. The Cougars responded back with a 6-1 run that featured buckets from Jaret Johnson, Corbyn Alexander, and Tath Dak. That left the score at 8-7 in favor of UMN Morris, but Micah Ladd came down and drilled consecutive threes that put the Storm ahead for good with a 13-8 edge. 

A stretch with back-to-back baskets from Kenneth Riley and Maverick Conn for Minnesota Morris shortly after that brought the Cougars back within two, 16-14, but the score would never be brought level. A Jacob Van Dam triple with under eight minutes to go in the first half gave Crown a 26-16 lead and it grew to 43-30 by the break.

Any hopes of a Minnesota Morris comeback likely hinged on cutting into the deficit early on in the second half. Though Carlin laid in the first basket of the half to make it 43-32, that was answered by a three-pointer from Alec Testerman and Crown would not lead by less than 12 after that. 

The decisive run from the Storm came after a Conn jumper made it 62-46 with 11:26 left. Over nearly the next six minutes, Crown went on a 15-2 run to extend out to a 77-48 edge with less than six minutes to play. By the time Dillon Haider converted a three-point play, it was too little, too late for Minnesota Morris.

Haider and Will McBee shared team-high scoring honors with 11 apiece on the night. McBee added eight boards. Johnson and Conn each had eight in the contest.

Crown advances to the UMAC Tournament semifinals where it will host No. 3 seed North Central University on Friday night.