ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. --- After a loss to St. Scholastica on Saturday night, Crown College (16-9, 10-6) hosts the first round of the UMAC Playoffs facing the University of Minnesota-Morris (10-15, 7-9) at the Wild Athletic Center in St. Bonifacius. The Storm will be looking to avenge a 110-96 loss they suffered to the Cougars last February in the exact same matchup in the same round of the UMAC Playoffs. Today's UMAC tilt will tip at 7 p.m. and can be streamed for free at athletics.crown.edu/GoLive.

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How Crown Got Here:

The #4-seeded Crown Storm started out hot in conference play, winning their first four UMAC games including a signature win over the future #1-seed Northwestern Eagles, the lone UMAC loss for the regular season champions. However, the Storm then dropped three straight conference games. They split for a while, before embarking on a four game winning streak to solidify their place in the UMAC Playoffs. The Storm ended the season with a game against St. Scholastica where the winner would take the #3-seed in the Playoffs, but the Storm fell to the Saints by a single point and ended up with a matchup with the Cougars on Wild Card Monday. 

How UM-Morris Got Here:

The #5-seeded UM-Morris Cougars had an up and down conference season, but started out strong with a 4-2 record and a signature win over the future #3-seed St. Scholastica. However, the Cougars then dropped four straight games until they picked up a two-point win over the Storm in late January. Unfortunately for Morris, their troubles didn't end there dropping two more games including a tough loss to Martin Luther, and their playoff hopes looked bleak.

Needing help from the Northland Lumberjacks, who dropped five of their last six games to give the Cougars a fighting chance, the Cougars won two of their last three games including a win against the Lumberjacks in the final game of the season to decide that final playoff spot. In a game that came down to the final moments, senior Noah Grove hit two clutch free throws with seven seconds left to advance Morris to face the Storm.
 

Last Year:

The Crown Storm hosted the UM-Morris Cougars last year on Wild Card Monday in the UMAC Playoffs, where the Cougars bested the Storm 110-96. The Cougars led most of the contest, and Morris' senior guard and 2018 UMAC Player of the Year CD Douglas had an incredible game, scoring 30 points and going a perfect 10/10 from the charity stripe. Junior (now senior) Noah Grove scored 26 points and blocked three shots in the matchup. For the Storm, sophomore (now junior) Timothy Wendel scored 21 points on 50% shooting from the field. Off the Crown bench, junior (now senior) Logan Strand had 15 points in only 17 minutes. 

Players Lost: Both teams lost their all-time leading scorers since the 2018 Playoffs. Crown graduated post Austin VanDerHeyden, who scored 1,516 points in his career for the Storm. UM-Morris graduated guard CD Douglas, who scored 1,960 points in his career for the Cougars. 
 

Crown College Projected Starting Five:

Junior Forward Timothy Wendel: 21.9 ppg / 9.4 rpg / 2.4 apg
Junior Forward Gunnar Ledin: 14.0 ppg / 2.8 rpg / 1.2 apg
Senior Guard Josh Volness: 12.8 ppg / 3.6 rpg / 2.9 apg
Senior Guard Keegan Oyugi: 12.0 ppg / 3.8 rpg / 4.2 apg
Junior Forward Kole Jusczak: 5.5 ppg / 5.9 rpg / 0.7 apg  

Crown College Potential Impact Bench Players: 

Sophomore Forward/Guard Christian Moore: 11.0 ppg / 5.2 rpg / 1.6 apg
Junior Forward Torry Ledin: 7.1 ppg / 1.0 rpg / 0.5 apg
Senior Forward Logan Strand: 3.6 ppg / 3.6 rpg / 0.4 apg
Senior Guard D'Andre Caster: 2.7 ppg / 2.4 rpg / 1.3 apg  

UM-Morris Projected Starting Five:

Senior Forward Noah Grove: 15.5 ppg / 4.5 rpg / 1.4 apg
Senior Forward Jeffrey Halverson: 11.8 ppg / 6.9 rpg / 1.3 apg
Sophomore Guard James Pendleton: 10.3 ppg / 4.2 rpg / 3.6 apg
Senior Forward Trey Heinsuis: 9.3 ppg / 6.0 rpg / 1.8 apg
Senior Forward Jeremy Halverson: 8.2 ppg / 3.6 rpg / 1.1 apg  

UM-Morris Potential Impact Bench Players: 

Junior Forward Nick Peterson: 5.6 ppg / 3.1 rpg / 0.9 apg
Sophomore Guard Trent Jerome: 5.2 ppg / 1.8 rpg / 1.0 apg
First-year Forward Kenneth Riley: 4.2 ppg / 1.6 rpg / 1.3 apg
 

Last Five Matchups:

Jan. 31, 2019 at Morris: Crown 74, UM-Morris 76. 
Dec. 5, 2018 at Crown: UM-Morris 78, Crown 96
Feb. 19, 2018 at Crown: UM-Morris 110, Crown 96
Jan. 31, 2018 at Crown: UM-Morris 67, Crown 77
Dec. 6, 2017 at Morris: Crown 86, UM-Morris 94

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