MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team defeated Trinity Bible College, 96-64, in their final game of 2025 on Monday night in Morris, Minn.
 
The Cougars improve to 5-6 overall, while the Lions fall to 5-7.
 
Trinity Bible opened the scoring with an administrative technical free throw before the opening tip. After winning the jump, Carvin Fish scored the Cougars' first basket off a pass from Gustav Gunderson in the paint. Kaden Pieper added a three-pointer, then knocked down another to make it 8-3. Baskets by Fish and Thomas Tiernan helped maintain the early lead. Pieper later connected on back-to-back jumpers to push the lead to nine. LeRoy Staples-Fairbanks IV scored his first points of the night with a pair of free throws, and Fish extended the advantage to 10 with a jumper.
 
The Lions responded with a 10-2 run to pull within two. Fish ended the rally, and Matt Thompson added a fast-break layup to stretch the lead again. Tiernan hit a three to put the Cougars back up by five. Gunderson followed with his first triple, and two free throws from Pieper restored a double-digit cushion. The teams traded baskets down the stretch, and the Cougars entered halftime with a 42-32 lead.
 
Tiernan and Pieper opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers. Fish added the next three points to make it 51-35. A Thompson three-pointer and free throws from Fish pushed the lead to 20. The advantage continued to grow as Pieper knocked down the team's ninth three of the game. Trinity Bible hit consecutive threes, but Pieper answered with another. UMM stayed hot from long range, with Thompson hitting three more down the stretch to make it 77-56. Fish scored his 29th point in the final minutes to extend the lead to 25. Leul Samuel added a midrange jumper, followed by an Ian Fahje layup assisted by Alexander Munson. Munson then scored on a driving layup, and Samuel connected from deep. The Cougars closed out the night with a 96-64 victory.
 
Fish led UMM with 29 points, shooting 11-of-17 from the field and 7-of-12 from the free-throw line. Pieper followed with 23 points, including five made threes. The Cougars posted a season-high 14 three-pointers. Thompson and Tiernan also reached double figures with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Gunderson recorded a double-double with 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
 
Defensively, Fish also grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. The Cougars totaled 10 steals, led by Gunderson with three. Tiernan and Fish each registered a block.
 
The Cougars return to action on Jan. 7 as they open Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play at Martin Luther College.