ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team took what was at one point a 19-point deficit and brought it down to two points late in the game before running out of gas in a 64-56 loss to Crown College on Saturday. The win by the Polars sinks the Cougars to 7-6 (2-1 UMAC) on the season.

Crown burst out of the gates to a 10-0 as more than three minutes elapsed before Blake Munson got Minnesota Morris on the board. The Polar lead then went to 18-2 before a Tarik Iyob fallaway in the lane. Crown grew the lead to as many as 19 points in the first half, 30-11, but the Cougars responded with a 10-0 run of their own fueled by eight points from Jarrett Kujava. A Pal Dak triple just before the buzzer took UMN Morris to the half trailing by a more manageable score of 34-26.

A scoring drought of more than four minutes from the Polars in the middle of the second half allowed Minnesota Morris to go on a 7-0 run and get within three at 41-38 on another Dak trey. Crown then reestablished a double-digit lead by the eight-minute mark, only to see the Cougars rally again. A Kenny Placide finish in the lane capped a 9-0 Minnesota Morris run, bringing the deficit down to two and Kujava knocked down a pair at the line moments later to again make it a two-point margin at 55-53 with three minutes to go. 

Having fought hard to get back in the game, the Minnesota Morris offense went missing at the wrong time down the stretch. Micah Ladd scored five straight points for Crown and the Cougars didn't score again until a Gus Gunderson three-point play with less than 30 seconds left. That brought UMN Morris within five, but the Polars hit three free throws in the final seconds to hold off the Cougars.

Dak finished with a game-high 20 points on the evening, while Kujava notched a double-double of 17 points and 11 boards. 

Minnesota Morris is home for its next six games, beginning on Jan. 12 when Bethany Lutheran College pays a visit to James Gremmels Court at 7:15 p.m.