SAINT BONIFACIUS - The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team maintains their tie for first place in the conference rankings with an 88-82 victory over the Crown College Polars. The team went an impressive 24-30 from the charity stripe to secure the victory. The Cougars look to expand their win streak to three games on Feb. 8 with a road game against the University of Northwestern (1 pm).

Minnesota Morris kicked off the scoring in this matchup with a triple from Jase Nelson and two buckets beyond the arc from Dom Aguilar. Pal Dak knocked down a three of his own to keep the Cougars in the lead at 12-8, before throwing down a dunk to create a six point lead. The momentum continued for the visiting team as they hit shots from around the floor, and went into halftime leading the Polars 41-34. 

The Cougars started the second half of the game with a 6-0 run that pushed the lead to double-digits. Crown clawed their way back into the game at the nine minute mark, bringing things to within two but Minnesota Morris refused to give up the lead. In the end, it was their work at the charity stripe that secured the win for the Cougars. Going 11-12 from the line in the final eight minutes of the game, Minnesota Morris outscored the Polars 20-17 to beat their opponents by a tight six point margin. 

Aguilar and Dak both had a 24-piece on the night, with Dak adding seven defensive rebounds and Aguilar totaling up four assists for the Cougars. Gustav Gunderson added 12 to the team's total, while Brian LaRoche, Jr. put up 10 points of his own.