MAYVILLE, ND – A strong 44-point first half performance by the Mayville State men was enough Tuesday night for a pre-Thanksgiving win in a 82-67 non-conference victory for the Comets over the University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville.
 
"I thought we played a good first half," Comets Head Coach Darren Tighe said.
 
Mayville State jumped out to the early 3-2 lead less than a minute in on a three-pointer in the corner by Latrelle Franklin. Ian Carlin, of the Cougars, started the scoring out of the gate, picking up the first basket of the evening just 15 second into the first half.
 
Kenneth Riley took the lead back for the Cougars 1:11 into the game, with a three off a pass from Nick Peterson. That's when shooting went cold for both teams, until Franklin picked up his fifth point of the night on a basket with 17:18 left, after Max Cooper set him up for a perfect scoring opportunity.
 
The Cougars then took over, extending the lead to four points on back-to-back threes, one by Dillon Haider and the other by Trent Jerome, making it 11-5 with 15:24 to go in the half.
 
The Comets answered in a resounding way, going on an 8-0 run, one that saw the Comets dish out the scoring evenly, with four players scoring in that span, taking a 13-11 lead with 12:57 to go in the half.
 
Later, the Comets went on a 4-0 run to regain the lead substantially, 20-14, as Rene Melendez connected on a pair of free throws and Marin Lisica had a basket with just under 10 minutes to go in the first half. Peterson cut the lead to four points on a pair of free throws with just over eight minutes left, but Simon Ramirez countered with a three-pointer, giving Mayville State a seven-point lead with 8:05 to go in the half.
 
The three by Ramirez sparked a Comet run, which saw Mayville State score 14 total unanswered points, building a 34-16 lead with 4:38 to go in the half. Mayville State ended the first half on a 9-6 run.
 
Two minutes into the second half, Max Cooper helped the Comets build a 20-point lead. But, an 11-0 run by the Cougars cut that to just nine points, as Carlin added five more points to his total, and the Cougars trailed 46-37 with 16:20 to go in the game.
 
Lisica and Franklin teamed up to pull Mayville State ahead 52-37 with a couple of free throws by Franklin, and a couple of baskets by Lisica.
 
A basket-and-one by Jerome, with 12:51 left, pulled Morris to within eight points.
 
Tighe took a timeout with 12:33 to go, regrouping the Comets. And they responded—in a big way.
 
A 10-0 run, spanning just under four minutes, put the Comets ahead by 18, 64-46. Peterson stopped the run with a three pointer with 8:42 left in the game.
 
Jalen Valverde made it 68-49 with 7:22 to go, the largest lead of the latter portion of the second half for the Comets. A valiant effort by Morris brought the game to within 14 points, but it wasn't enough.
 
Mayville State was led by Franklin's 22 points, while Cooper had a double-double on the night, with 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Comets.
 
"It was nice to see him (Cooper) get back," Tighe said. "He has been a great leader for us."
 
Mayville State is now 6-2 overall. They will take on the Cougars next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Morris, Minn.
 
"We have to try and get better each day," he said.