ASHLAND, Wis. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team delivered in the clutch on Saturday afternoon, breaking a late tie and earning a 74-70 road win at Northland College. Combined with a loss by North Central University, the Cougars rose up to take the No. 4 seed in the UMAC Tournament starting on Wednesday. UMN Morris will enter the tournament with a record of 13-11 (8-6 UMAC).
Noah Kannegiesser started the game off with a three-pointer on the first possession of the day for Minnesota Morris and that three-point lead would be the largest either team enjoyed for more than nine minutes. A 7-0 Northland run pushed the LumberJacks out to a 25-19 edge and they continued to pour it on, taking as much as a 13-point lead at 34-21 with 5:43 left in the half.
The Cougar defense stepped up at in important juncture and kept Northland scoreless for the final three minutes of the first half. Trailing 39-29, Minnesota Morris closed the half on a 9-0 run that included a three-ball from
Pal Dak to leave the Cougars down by just one at the break.
In a tightly-contested second half, Northland led by three points on eight occasions but never pulled more than one possession ahead of Minnesota Morris. The final lead for the LumberJacks came at 65-62, but that was promptly answered by a three-point play from Dak to tie the score at 65-65. Kannegiesser then followed with a triple moments later to give the Cougars a 68-65 advantage.
The game was far from finished and Northland tied it up one final time on a three-pointer from George Butvilas to make it 70-70. With under a minute to go,
Kenny Placide grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on the putback to give Minnesota Morris a two-point lead. After a stop on the defensive end, the Cougars quickly advanced the ball upcourt and Placide scored again with less than 20 seconds left to give UMN Morris a 74-70 lead, its largest of the contest. After a couple missed threes from the LumberJacks on the other end, the Cougars could celebrate.
Five players finished in double-figures on the day for the Cougars, led by Dak's 19. Kannegiesser added 17 points.
Jaret Johnson posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Placide had 13 off the bench, while
Ian Carlin had an efficient 11 points on just four field goal attempts.
Minnesota Morris will venture to take on No. 1 seed Bethany Lutheran College in the UMAC semifinals on Wednesday night in Mankato at 7 p.m. The other semifinal in the men's bracket features No. 3 seed University of Northwestern traveling to face No. 2 seed University of Wisconsin-Superior.
