MORRIS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College football team lost 31-7 at Minnesota Morris in a Saturday night game.

The MLC defense held the Cougars down for much of the game, but UMM was able to pull away late with a 24-0 run in the second half, with 17 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.

UMM took an early 7-0 lead, but MLC tied the score 7-7 heading into the half thanks to a 42-yard touchdown strike from T.J. Babinec to Josh Arndt with 4:14 to play in the second quarter.

The MLC defense was opportunistic, forcing four Cougar turnovers in the first half to keep the score tied.

The UMM defense would get the next score, returning as a Babinec fumble 46 yards to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Cougars put the game away in the final stanza, taking advantage of a tired MLC defense and scoring three times to get the final margin.

Babinec completed 12 of 23 passes for 188 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also led the team with 61 yards rushing on 17 carries. 

Arndt led MLC with 127 yards receiving on six catches. Ian Paulsen added five catches for 55 yards.

Joseph Herrewig, Josh VonDeylen and Nate Lindloff each intercepted a pass for the MLC defense, with VonDeylen also recovering a fumble. Clayton Fury led the team with ten tackles. Yaffet Gabayehu finished with 2.5 tackles for loss.

MLC fell to 0-6 overall and 0-5 in UMAC play in defeat. UMM improved to 3-2 on the season and 3-2 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, October 15, when they host Westminster College. That game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.