MORRIS, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team battled with the University of Northwestern in a tight UMAC matchup. Thanks to a last second bucket from the Eagles, the Cougars faced a 69-71 defeat at the end of the day and move to 2-2 in conference play.

The Cougars kicked off the scoring on the day with a three pointer from Dom Aguilar just 17 seconds into the game. The Eagles struggled to respond for the next two minutes, before hitting two back-to-back layups to close the gap. Carvin Fish' tipin layup gave Minnesota Morris their last lead of the half at 5-4. Northwestern led for the rest of the first half, but the Cougars didn't let them get far. After hitting a jumper with three seconds in the half, the Eagles led the game by just eight points. 

In an attempt to put the game away, Northwestern managed to find a 48-36 lead with 16 minutes remaining in the second half. The Cougars, however, would not allow that to happen. After clawing their way back into the game Aguilar hit a clutch triple to close the gap to two. With less than five minutes to go, Pal Dak sunk back-to-back layups that gave the Cougars a one point edge. Northwestern pulled away to a five point lead but an and-one from Fish and a layup from Dak tied things up at 69-69 with 30 seconds on the clock. The Eagles offense hit a jumper with one second on the clock to take a two point lead that went unanswered by Minnesota Morris. 

Dak earned a double-double on the day, leading the Cougars in both points (21) and rebounds (12) while adding two blocks to his stat line. Aguilar scored 15 points on the day for the Cougars. Fish and Gustav Gunderson were the other two players in double figures, dropping 11 and 10 respectively. 

Minnesota Morris will take a brief break from UMAC action to travel to Trinity Bible College Jan. 20 for a 7:15 pm matchup.