Box Score DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball was able to use several key defensive stops and took advantage of 1-and-1 bonus opportunities in the final minute of the second half to hold off the Minnesota Morris Cougars by a score of 82-77 Friday night at the Reif Gymnasium.

The women's contest was featured as the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week, but the men's matchup was the game of the night.

The game got off to a quick start with the Cougars striking first, but only to see the Saints respond on the offensive end each following possession.  The Saints were able to jump out a 30-18 lead off of a Jonah Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) layup with about six minutes left in the half.  The Cougars would come back strong to finish the half and the Saints would go into the break leading 38-24.

The second half opened up with a great first possession by the Saints ending in a Cole Mortel (Luck, Wis./Luck HS) 3-pointer.  CSS was able to hold the lead and after trading baskets for most of the second half, the Cougars were finally able to regain the lead for the first time since the opening basket at the 2:07 mark. 

The Saints would tie the game back up on the following possession from two Dahlman free-throws.  The Saints would never relinquish the lead after that as the Saints would finish 5-of-7 from the free-throw line in the final 45 seconds to hold on to the narrow victory 82-77.

Minnesota Morris (4-7, 1-1 UMAC) was led by Rj Dean with 20 points.  Steve Birman, a Duluth native, added 14 points while Tyler Pendleton chipped in with 13 points.

The Cougars would finish the game shooting 54-percent from the field, 36-percent from beyond the arc, and 72-percent from the free-throw line.  Morris would commit 19 turnovers and hold its only leads of the game, two points, on the opening score and the lead at the 2:07 mark.

CSS was led by Dahlman with 18 points and Trevor Morlock (Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS (Minn., Crookston)) also added 18 points off of the bench including grabbing seven rebounds.  Tester added 15 points while Mortel finished 4-for-7 from beyond for a total of 12 points.

The Saints would finish the game shooting 51-percent from the field, 39-percent from beyond the arc, and 63-percent from the free-throw line.  The Saints would grab 29 total rebounds and commit 14 turnovers.

St. Scholastica (4-9, 2-0 UMAC) will host Crown College tomorrow at the Reif Gymnasium with tip scheduled 30 minutes after the completion of the women's contest which starts at 3 p.m. local time.  Tune into csssaints.com for live broadcast of the game.