MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team earned an important and hard-fought UMAC victory on Saturday afternoon with a last-second 61-58 win over Crown College. The Cougars go to 10-9 (4-4 UMAC) on the year while the Polars slip to 12-6 (5-3 UMAC). 

Crown went on top early on with a 7-2 lead. Minnesota Morris was able to come back and knot the score at 10-10 on a Kenny Placide layup, but the Polars eventually would go on another run and take their largest lead of the afternoon, 29-17, with less than five minutes to play in the first half. Down the closing stretch of the half, Pal Dak scored seven points in the last four minutes to help the Cougars close the gap. Gus Gunderson added three free throws and UMN Morris went to the break trailing by just one, 30-29.

Placide began the second half with a bucket to give Minnesota Morris a short-lived lead before seven unanswered points from Crown put the Cougars back in a hole. Again Minnesota Morris rallied and this time an 8-0 run gave the Cougars their largest lead of the game, 42-38, when Jarrett Kujava knocked down a triple at the 12:40 mark. 

The Polars had another answer and when Tyus Buckner made a layup with just over five minutes to go, the Crown lead was 54-48. The Minnesota Morris defense made an impact after that, limiting the Polars to only four points the rest of the way. Dak had a layup to get the Cougars within one at the two-minute mark and then gave Minnesota Morris a lead following a Kujava steal with 1:08 to play. 

When Placide made one of two at the line with 38 seconds left, the Minnesota Morris lead stood at 58-56. Fouled on the other end, Crown's Cade Carroll knocked in a pair to tie up the score at 58-58. That left the Cougars with the ball and shot clock turned off. 

Using a pair of timeouts to set up the last-second scenario, Dak drove in but was denied a clear path to the basket and the ball swung to Jase Nelson. Nelson's contested three-pointer just before the buzzer found the bottom of the net with just under a second left. After a quick stoppage to put time back on the clock, Crown couldn't get a desperation shot off and the Cougars emerged with the victory.

Placide finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Dak added 16 points, seven boards, and led the Cougars with five assists. Ian Fahje added eight points off the bench.

Minnesota Morris will be on the road next weekend, starting on Friday night with a 7:15 p.m. matchup in New Ulm, Minn. against Martin Luther College.