MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team was in it until the end against the unbeaten UMAC leaders, but Bethany Lutheran College ended the game on an 8-1 run to survive the stern test from the Cougars, 86-79. Minnesota Morris drops to 11-10 (5-5 UMAC) on the year while the Vikings move one step closer to locking up the regular-season championship at 18-3 (10-0 UMAC).
After winning the opening tap, Minnesota Morris took a 2-0 lead on a
Pal Dak jumper before Bethany Lutheran answered with an 11-2 run to open up a seven-point edge.
Gus Gunderson brought the Cougars back into it, accounting for the next 13 UMN Morris points and giving the Cougars a 15-13 lead on his third triple of the opening eight minutes. The largest Minnesota Morris lead would come at 24-19 on an
Ian Fahje layup before the teams went to the break all square at 33-33.
The Cougars equaled their largest lead of five early in the second half when
Brian LaRoche, Jr. canned a three-pointer to make it 43-38 and again at 64-59 on a
Kenny Placide free throw with 8:14 to play. Bethany Lutheran responded right back with five straight points in less than a minute to knot it up at 64-64 and the lead flipped back and forth for most of the remainder of the game.
Dak took on the scoring load for Minnesota Morris in the last five minutes, ripping off three layups and a three-pointer to stake the Cougars to a 76-72 advantage as the clock rolled under three minutes. Unfortunately, the lead would not last. Bethany Lutheran took the lead with a 6-0 run before Placide knocked down a pair at the line to level the score one final time, 78-78, with 1:19 to go. Drew Sagedahl gave the Vikings the lead just seconds later and Minnesota Morris ran out of answers in the final minute. A turnover with less than 30 seconds left and trailing by three wrapped it up and Bethany Lutheran made its final six free throws to ice it.
Dak finished with 24 points and Gunderson rode his hot start to 20 points on the day.
Blake Munson came off the bench to hit all four shots he attempted and ended with 10 points. Placide approached a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Minnesota Morris returns to James Gremmels Court next weekend for the final two home games of the regular season. The Cougars will first host the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Feb. 9 beginning at 7:15 p.m.
