NEW ULM, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's basketball team opened Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play with a 106–91 victory over Martin Luther College on Wednesday night in New Ulm, Minn. Junior Kaden Pieper poured in 45 points, the second-most in program history.
 
The Cougars improve to 6–6 overall and 1–0 in UMAC play, while the Knights fall to 6–8 overall and 0–1 in conference action.
 
Martin Luther scored first and quickly jumped out to a four-point lead in the opening minute. Carvin Fish sparked the Cougars with a jumper and a layup to even the score. Pieper gave UMM its first lead with a driving layup and followed with another on the next possession. Matt Thompson kept the Cougars on top with the game's first three-pointer off a Pieper assist. Fish then connected from deep to push the lead to six.
 
MLC responded with a six-point run that was halted by a pair of free throws from Gustav Gunderson. Alexander Munson and LeRoy Staples-Fairbanks IV kept the momentum going for Minnesota Morris with a three-pointer and a jumper, respectively. Each time the Knights closed the gap, the Cougars answered, with Fish and Staples-Fairbanks pushing the lead to 29–23 with under eight minutes remaining in the opening half.
 
Thomas Tiernan ignited a 16–0 UMM run with a free throw, followed by a turnaround jumper after an offensive rebound. Pieper extended the lead to double digits with a three-pointer. Fish added to the run by grabbing his own miss, finishing the putback, and converting the free throw for a three-point play. Pieper capped the run by scoring on three consecutive possessions.
 
Pieper stayed hot, drilling another triple for his 21st point of the half and added two more three-pointers to finish 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the opening period. He scored the Cougars' final points of the half as UMM took a commanding 62–43 lead into the break.
Fish opened the second half with two made free throws. The teams traded baskets early, with Tiernan scoring for the Cougars. Thompson threw down a dunk to extend the lead back to 18. Pieper then scored the next four points to reach 33 points in fewer than 25 minutes of action.
 
After both teams exchanged three-pointers, Staples-Fairbanks knocked down his first triple of the game. The Knights went on a run to cut the deficit to 13, but Tiernan halted the momentum with a three-pointer. Thompson followed with another dunk, and Pieper added a driving layup to make it 85–68. Pieper later pushed the lead back to 20 with a free throw and a hook shot.
 
Down the stretch, the teams traded points as Minnesota Morris maintained a double-digit lead. In the final two minutes, the Knights pulled within 11. Staples-Fairbanks converted a pair of free throws to push the Cougars past the 100-point mark. Pieper added two free throws to reach 43 points—second-most in a single game in program history—before finishing with 45 as UMM secured the 106–91 victory.
 
Pieper's 45 points are the most by a Cougar since the 1964–65 season. He finished the night shooting 16-for-21 from the field, 5-for-8 from three-point range, and 8-of-12 from the free-throw line. As a team, Minnesota Morris shot 54.5 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 75.0 percent (24-of-32) from the line.
 
Fish followed with 20 points, while Staples-Fairbanks added 11. Tiernan and Thompson each recorded 10 points. Fish and Jase Nelson led the team with three assists apiece.
 
Defensively, Nelson pulled down a team-high six rebounds, with Thompson and Staples-Fairbanks collecting five each. The Cougars forced 10 turnovers, with Pieper recording a game-high four steals. Fish tallied two of UMM's four blocks, while Nelson and Jang Dak recorded the others.
 
The Cougars step away from UMAC action as they travel to Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday for a 1 p.m. matchup.