The first half saw four ties and five lead changes as Valley City State led by as many as six, 20-14 with 7:16 left in the first half.
The Cougars then found their touch, using a 20-6 run to close the half with a 34-26 advantage. For UMM it was their first game since a 115-108 overtime loss to Concordia-Moorhead back on December 14th.
Matt Stenehjem (Grand Forks, ND) got things started for the Cougar with a lay-up as the Cougars scored on nine of their final 11 possessions in the half and hit on eight of 11 from the floor to take the eight point lead into the locker room.
Stenehjem gave the Cougars their largest lead at 36-26 with the first basket of the second half, but the Vikings scored five unanswered to cut the lead to fie at 36-31.
A free throw by Adam Sullivan (Sr. Dilworth, MN) put Minnesota-Morris up 41-34 with 15:31 left in the game, but again VCSU would put together a nice run, this time a 12-0 spurt to take a 46-42 lead just over three minutes later.
Over the next six minutes there would be four ties, the last at 56-56 with 6:21 showing on the clock.
The Vikings would take a 61-56 lead a short time later and the Cougars would have several chances to cut into the deficit, but could not convert at the line.
With the Vikings leading by five at 72-67 with :30 seconds left and the Cougars having plenty of time outs left, three-point shots by Brendan McNally (So. Lindstrom, MN) and Brent Durensky (So. Barnesville, MN) rimmed out that would have made it a one possession game.
The Cougars were forced to foul and the Vikings Terrance Allen (Sr. Macon, GA) hit all four of his free-throws to seal the win for Valley City State.
Valley City State shot 63 percent from the field in the second half and after scoring just 26 first half points on 30 percent shooting, tallied 50 in the second half.
The Cougars, who were averaging 92.3 points entering Monday’s game, were held to a season low 69 with a season low 24 field goals made.
Matt Stenehjem led all scorers with 16 for the Cougars, Brendan McNally, playing in his first game since an ankle injury against Bethel, one month to the day, had 12, Adam Sullivan 11 and Adam Girtman (Sr. Prior Lake, MN) 10.
The Cougars are now 5-5 overall and open up Upper Midwest Conference (UMAC) action on the road this weekend.
On Friday January 7, the Cougars take on St. Scholastica at 7:30 in Duluth and then on Saturday, January 8th take on Northland College at 5:00 in Ashland, Wisconsin.
The Cougars are home again on January 14th and 15th when they take on Crown College Friday at 5:30 and then Northwestern College, Saturday at 3:00 at the P.E. Center.