MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team rallied out of a halftime deficit on the road facing the UMAC co-leaders and led by as many as eight points in the second half before Bethany Lutheran College came back to force overtime and eventually earned a 93-86 win on Friday night. The Cougar loss sends the team to 7-7 (3-3 UMAC), while the Vikings improve to 14-3 (5-1 UMAC).

Bethany Lutheran broke open a close game with a 10-0 run in the middle of the first half to take a 24-13 lead. The Vikings then were able to maintain a double-digit lead as late as the six-minute mark of the half with a 30-20 edge. In the closing minutes heading into the break, Minnesota Morris closed the gap with the help of a pair of three-pointers from Thomas Tiernan to make it 41-35 in favor of BLC.

A dunk from Mason Ackley pushed the Viking lead to 48-40 with three minutes gone in the second half, but Minnesota Morris then clamped down on defense and went on a 13-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 53-48 advantage. The Cougars were then able to maintain their lead for most of the remainder of regulation. When Bethany Lutheran pulled within two, 60-58, with 6:41 remaining, Pal Dak personally scored the next eight UMN Morris points to give the Cougars their largest lead, 68-60, with under five minutes remaining.

Unfortunately the Cougars were not able to make that lead hold up. Drew Sagedahl canned a pair of three-pointers down the stretch and Hunter Nielsen tied the game at 77-77 with just under a minute remaining. Both teams came up empty the rest of the way, forcing the contest into an extra session.

A trio of Ian Carlin free throws in the middle of overtime put Minnesota Morris on top, 82-80, but that would turn out to be the final lead of the night for the Cougars. Nielsen tied the game with less than two minutes remaining and Jax Madson hit a three on the next trip down the floor to put the Vikings up for good. Bethany Lutheran went 6-for-6 from the line in the final 70 seconds to ice the game.

Noah Kannegiesser ended the night with a team-high 22 points along with four steals. Dak added 19. Coming off the bench, Corbyn Alexander had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. 

Minnesota Morris will be back in action tomorrow afternoon in New Ulm, facing Martin Luther College at 1 p.m.