MORRIS, Minn.-- North Central got in front at halftime on the road in Wednesday's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference post season tournament semi-final but could not hang on in the second half. The host and second seed University of Minnesota-Morris pulled away in the final five minutes to earn a 79-64 victory over North Central.

North Central (12-13, 8-6 UMAC) locked into a close first half with the second seed Cougars in Wednesday's UMAC playoff semi-final and led by as many as seven points befor taking a 31-26 advantage into the locker room. The first 20 minutes was contested very tightly with both teams shooting .420 and each squad pulling down 17 rebounds.

Out of the break, Minnesota-Morris turned up the pressure and earned a 39-35 lead just four minutes into the second half. For most of the second half the Cougars would be in front by 6-8 points before the Rams made their final surge to get back in front.

With 6:46 left junior Josh High (Buffalo, Minn.) hit a three that made it just 60-57. The Cougars got a pair of free throws the next trip to push the difference back to five. North Central trailed 62-58 with 5:41 remaining and had three chances to cut into the deficit but could not get a bucket and that proved to be their final chance.

After three straight wasted trips by the Rams with 4:45 left, Morris used a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to push the lead back out to 70-58 and all but seal the outcome. A jumper from junior Clarke Mossman (Conrad, Iowa/Marshalltown) with 1:44 left got the difference down to 71-60 but that would be as close as the Rams could get the rest of the way.

Senior Luke Chafin (Dayton, Ohio/Troy Christian) did all he could to help keep his team in the fight with 18 points on 8-16 shooting and 2-2 at the free throw line with 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Freshman Travis Voigt (Green Bay, Wis./N.E.W. Lutheran) added 16 points and 4 rebounds.

On the night, Morris fired .482 (27-56) while North Central was  26-64 (.406) from the floor. The Cougars earned a 42-31 rebound advantage. Morris was whistled for just 11 fouls while the Rams stacked up 22, often fouling in the final minutes of a comeback attempt.

North Central will now continue post-season action with games in the NCCAA Division II Regional Tournament. The Rams will come into the weekend's action hosted by Trinity Bible College (Ellendale, N.D.) as the top seed and take on fourth seed Providence University-College (Otterburne, Manitoba) at 4 p.m. on Friday night.

The winner of Friday's two semi-finals will play in the region championship game with a berth in the NCCAA Division II National Championship Tournament on the line. Saturday's region championship is scheduled for 3 p.m.