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Photo Credits - Minnesota Morris Sports Information; Bethany Lutheran Sports Information
*Article Credit - Sara Eisenhauer; UMAC Assistant Commissioner
Friday, Dec. 9, 2016 - Men's Basketball: Bethany Lutheran at Minnesota Morris
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's basketball season got off to a fast start last weekend with several close games decided by just a few points. That action should continue as preseason playoff contenders meet to kick off the second week of league action Friday.
Last season, the University of Minnesota Morris men's squad placed fourth to make its seventh-straight postseason appearance, while Bethany Lutheran College was just one game out of the tournament picture in sixth. This year, coaches predict both teams will earn a bid to continue in the postseason making Friday's game between the two teams the "UMAC Game of the Week".
The Cougars were slotted to place third with 46 points in the UMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with the return of several key players. The Vikings were slotted fifth under the new leadership of Head Coach Matt Fletcher with 32 points in the voting.
A year ago, just one game separated the two teams and a chance at the playoffs with Minnesota Morris going 9-7 in conference play and Bethany Lutheran posting a 8-8 UMAC record. The two squads split their season series which should mean two very close contests this season – likely again with postseason implications.
The Cougars took the first game of the series downing the Vikings on their home court by a score of 85-64. In the win, the Cougars led by as many as 21 points after outscoring the Vikings by nine in the first half and 12 in the second half.
Tyler Ukkleberg and
CD Douglas combined for 37 points with five Minnesota Morris players in double figures.
The tides changed in the rematch that ended the season on the Cougars home court in February as the Vikings held on to a sizeable first half lead for a narrow 82-75 win. Star player
Brandyn Frelix led the Vikings with 18 points and three others tallied double digits in scoring.
Overall last season, Minnesota Morris boasted among some of the top team stats including an impressive 84.8 ppg against UMAC opponents that ranked second and 41.3 rebounds per game that ranked first. Bethany Lutheran wasn't far behind in some aspects, though, as it pulled in the third-most rebounds per game at 41.3 per game with a 6.8 rebounding margin that led the UMAC.
With both teams finding similar success already this season heading in to the thick of the conference season, its no surprise to likely be due in part to the return of several familiar faces. For the Cougars, the return of star All-UMAC First Team and All-Defensive selection
Douglas has been critical to the team's success – already earning UMAC Player of the Week. Fellow All-Defensive selection
Ukkleberg has also been off to a stellar start for the Cougars.
For the Vikings,
Frelix has been just as important in 2016-17 as he was a year ago in leading his squad this season. The Vikings also welcomed
Neil Eichten and
Brady Rose back to the roster to help add depth to the team's offense. Though the Vikings lost 2014-15 All-UMAC Honorable Mention Nick Sanborn, they returned 86 percent of scoring from last season to give Fletcher a lot to work with.
The Match Up
This season has started off in similar fashion for both teams with Minnesota Morris posting a 4-3 mark overall but 0-1 start to UMAC play, while Bethany Lutheran is 3-3 heading into Friday with one UMAC win under its belt. The Cougars earned a big 105-100 win over Presentation College early before after taking down Concordia College by one point in the season opener. After defeating Finlandia University last Friday, the Cougars dropped their conference opening game to Northland College 81-67.
The Vikings tallied an early season win over Maranatha Baptist University before a string of tough losses to solid regional opponents. They got back on track last Saturday with a late-game 102-98 victory over conference rival Martin Luther College on the road. Tuesday, the Vikings extended their winning-streak with a nine-point margin of victory over the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
So far this season, the two teams have been at the top of the league in scoring. Minnesota Morris leads the league in overall scoring with 88.3 ppg, while Bethany Lutheran is second with 84.8 ppg. They are also even defensively with Minnesota Morris ranked fifth overall allowing 84.0 ppg and Bethany Lutheran sixth with 84.2 ppg allowed.
Need to Know – Minnesota Morris
- Paul Grove became the Cougars' all-time wins leaders for men's basketball with the team's victory over Presentation.
- The Cougars are just one of two teams that have outscored their opponents in overall games this season with a margin of 4.3 – Bethany Lutheran is the other (0.2).
- Four Minnesota Morris players have recorded at least one 20-point or better scoring performance this season.
Need to Know – Bethany Lutheran
- Bethany Lutheran returned 86 percent of its scoring from last season.
- Two of the Vikings' three losses this season came to teams that finished second in their respective conferences last year (St. Olaf and Wartburg).
- Three Bethany Lutheran players have recorded at least one 20-point or better scoring performance this season.
Who to Watch – Minnesota Morris
Douglas leads the UMAC in overall (21.0 ppg) and conference (29.0 ppg) scoring and has recorded 20 points or more four times including a 32-point outing against Finlandia. He also leads the league in overall steals per game (2.1) and assists per game (5.9).
Ukkleberg owns a triple-double, and he ranks third in overall scoring (17.3 ppg) and fourth in rpg (8.3).
John Haseman ranks first in field goal percentage (57.5) and joins
Noah Grove as other UMM players with 20-point games. Ukkleberg, Grove and
Dylan Erickson average two or more 3-pointers per game and convert 38 percent of the time or better.
Who to Watch – Bethany Lutheran
Frelix ranks fourth in overall scoring (16.8) and third in rebounding (8.8 rpg), but was held to just 13 points in the team's conference opener.
Eichten has helped significantly scoring 22 points in the win over Martin Luther and currently boasts 14.7 ppg overall. The two players are both averaging 3.0 assists per game which ranks sixth overall in the UMAC.
Austin Bauer joins Frelix and Eichten with 20-point scoring games and has totaled 10.8 ppg. Additionally, Frelix ranks in the top 10 for field goal percentage (47.8) and Eichten and Bauer are one and two, respectively, from the charity stripe converting 23 times each.
The Basics
The conference matchup between Minnesota Morris and Bethany Lutheran is set for this Friday, Dec. 9 with tip off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The contest will take place on the campus of the University of Minnesota Morris in Morris, Minnesota.
The "Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week" is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the "UMAC Game of the Week".
