MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team dropped its second straight contest on Friday night in a 96-86 loss to the University of Northwestern. The Cougars fall to 10-9 (5-4 UMAC), while the Eagles improve to 11-9 (6-3 UMAC).

Northwestern felt unstoppable at times in the first half, racing out to a 6-0 lead and increasing that margin to 17-7 after seven minutes of action. Jaret Johnson had a couple of baskets down low to help slice the Cougar deficit to six, but the Eagles continued to knock down shots and had their lead climb as high as 13 points in the opening half, 33-20. At the three-minute mark of the half, Noah Kannegiesser buried a triple and Kenny Placide converted a three-point play, getting Minnesota Morris to within five, 38-33, but that was promptly answered by a 7-0 Northwestern run before Johnson hit a three in the final seconds of the half to make it 45-36 at the break.

A three-point play from Ian Carlin and a pair of free throws from Corbyn Alexander in the first minute of the second half tacked on to the Johnson three-ball for an 8-0 run from Minnesota Morris, getting the Cougars within four, 45-41. That would be as close as it would get the rest of the night for the Cougars however. Northwestern grew its margin back to double-digits courtesy of a 10-2 run and UMN Morris would spend much of the rest of the game trailing by 10 or more.

The Cougars went a perfect 15-of-15 from the foul line as a team, but Northwestern was nearly as good with a 20-of-23 performance, including 14-of-16 from Kyle Kaemingk. The Eagles seemed to answer every push from Minnesota Morris by getting to the line and converting, scoring their final eight points from the charity stripe to close it out.

Johnson and Kannegiesser shared the team high scoring honors with 16 on the night, while Pal Dak added 14. Carlin and Placide each chipped in with nine apiece.

Minnesota Morris continues its home stand tomorrow afternoon, hosting North Central University at 3 p.m.