MORRIS, MINN – The Mayville State men's basketball team played the University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars for the second time in a week, taking a 81-75 win over the Cougars on their home court in the Cougar Sports Center in Morris, Minn., on Tuesday night.
 
Tuesday night's game was the tale of two halves—Morris came out strong in the first half, but the Comets fought back in the second half.
 
"I really liked how we stayed together and took things one possession at a time," Comets head coach Darren Tighe said. "They really stayed in the moment."
 
After Iker Cruz scored on a jumper in the paint just 19 seconds in, the Cougars went on a 9-0 run and took a 9-2 lead with less than two minutes gone in the first half of play. Mayville State then fought back, pulling the game to within one point on Max Cooper's bucket in the paint, with less than three-and-a-half minutes gone in the first quarter of play. The two teams then battled back and forth, with the game coming within one basket multiple times, and Morris holding the lead—until six-and-a-half minutes had passed in the first half.
 
Malachi Wharry's fastbreak basket with 13:34 to go in the first half put the Comets ahead for just the second time on the evening's matchup, 15-14. A successful layup-and-one by Ian Carlin allowed the Cougars to regain the lead, which was cut out by a three-pointer by Simon Ramirez with 12:38 to go in the half, giving Mayville State an 18-17 lead.
 
The Comets led two more times in the first half, but closed the half down by seven points, 43-36.
 
Minnesota-Morris built an 11-point lead less than two-and-a-half minutes into the second half, capped off by a pair of free throws by Jaret Johnson with 17:39 left. A jumper by Rene Melendez and a free throw by Latrelle Franklin brought the Comets to within eight points, less than three minutes into the second half of the contest.
 
Mayville State, down by 11 with 16:43 to go mounted a 6-0 comeback, pulling to within five points with 14:47 to go, capped off by a Melendez layup in the paint. Tobyn Lawson later would make it a two-point game, with a slam dunk after a missed layup by Franklin, turned offensive rebound by Lawson.
 
Lawson's free throw with 12:11 left tied the game at 56-56. Carlin then gave the Cougars the advantage with a layup in the paint, to which Mayville State answered with a jumper and three pointer by Melendez, giving Mayville State a 61-58 lead with 11:11 to go in the second half. The two teams battled back and forth until under six minutes left, when Nick Peterson tied the game on a jumper.
 
Cooper then put the Comets ahead by two, but Johnson responded with 2:13 left, tying the game 74-74. Mayville State, however, pulled away leaving the Cougars scoreless for the last minute-19.
 
Four Comets finished in double-figures—Cooper with 19, Valverde with 14, along with Franklin and Melendez, who each had 11 points.