MORRIS, Minn.-- Men's Basketball struggled to shoot the ball while watching their opponent burn the nets on Friday night. The University of Minnesota-Morris had their offense running at full speed while North Central simply never found their rhythm in a 73-51 loss in Morris.

North Central fell behind by double-figures in the ten minutes of the game and then spend the rest of the contest trying to play catch-up. The Cougars jumped out 21-9 over the first 10 mintues of the game. The Rams got to within six with 3:54 left in the half but eventually trailed 39-25 at the break.

The second half started positively for NCU and it looked like the Rams could fight their way back. Freshman Isaiah Rustad (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) got a lay-up, was fouled and converted the free throw to help cut the deficit to 10. He then got a steal that led to an NCU lay-up and moved the Rams to within 41-34 with 17:34 left. After Morris got a pair of free throws, Rustad then hit a big three that made it 43-37 and over 16 minutes to to play. But that ended up being as close as it would get. 

Morris continued to shoot effectively from behind the three point arc and kept the Rams off the free throw (7-10) line while going 22-31 themselves. Overall NCU shot just 18-54 (.333), down from their season percentage of .455. UMM fired 22-44 (.500) from the floor.

Junior Josh High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) was one of the bright spots for NCU as he led the Rams with 19 points including 5-8 from the three point line. Senior Bryce Burkman (Winsted, Minn./Winsted) had 9 points and 9 rebounds. Isaiah Rustad totaled 8 points.

NCU is back in action with their final road UMAC game of the year on Saturday. They will travel to Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.) for a 5 p.m. tip off. The Rams then wrap up their regular season conference schedule with a pair of weekend double-headers at home over the next two weeks.