MORRIS, Minn. - Taking James Gremmels Court for their season opener, the University of Minnesota Morris Men's Basketball team battled against Concordia College - Moorhead. The game ended with a devastating 62-69 loss for the Cougars.

The matchup started off competitive on both sides of the floor, with the Cougars finding their first lead (6-5) of the day off a pair of made shots at the charity stripe from Pal Dak. The Cobbers responded to take back a 13-10 lead, which Dak squashed with an outside three-pointer. The game went scoreless for several minutes as both defenses held each other at bay. It was James "Juice" Hughes, making his debut for Minnesota Morris, that broke the scoring drought to put the Cougars up 16-13. Concordia-Moorhead ended a second scoring drought to tie the game up at 16's. A three point play from Dom Aquilar pushed a three point scoring gap between the two teams for a 22-19 Cougar lead. Both teams continued to battle for the lead in the first half but it was the Cobbers that led 35-33 heading into halftime.

The Cobbers kicked off the second half on a 16-7 scoring run to take the first double digit lead of the game for both teams. With the Cougars trailing 53-46 midway through the second half, Thomas Tiernan hit a clutch three for Minnesota Morris to close the gap to four. Concordia-Moorhead went on a 5-0 run in response, ended quickly by a steal and dunk from Dak. The Cobbers continued to find the bottom of the net, burying the Cougars in a thirteen point deficit with just under three minutes left in the game. Despite seven points from Dak, and two clutch free throws from Gustav Gunderson, time expired with Minnesota Morris trailing 69-62. 

Dak, shooting 100% from the charity stripe, came away from the day with 29 points and three rebounds for Minnesota Morris. Gunderson dropped nine points and earned two rebounds of his own for the Cougars. Hughes led the Cougars in rebounds, totaling up five and dropping seven points in his first outing on James Gremmels Court. Staples-Fairbanks earned six points on the day and pulled down four rebounds.

The Cougars will hit the road for back-to-back games in Bemidji, Minn. on Nov. 18 and 19. The first game of the trip will tip off at 5:30 pm against Oak Hills Christian College. Tuesday's game tips off at 7:30 pm against Bemidji State University.