New Ulm, MN - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team dropped a close one to Minnesota Morris on Friday evening 70-67 and a had a chance for a weekend split if they beat Crown College on Saturday afternoon. The men gave it their best go, but Cade Carroll led his team with 28 points and the Polars would defeat MLC 95-61 on Parents' Day.

Carroll had 21 of his 28 points in the first half and his outside shooting made the difference early on, as the graduate student got to his spots on the wing and connected on four 3-pointers.

As a team, the Polars did a solid job of pushing the pace and made the right kick-ahead passes in transition that led to multiple 3-pointers. Crown outscored the Knights 20-1 in this category and guard Carter Behne (21 points) played a pivotal role towards the Polars' success here.

Crown would never trail in the game, but the Knights opened the second half up with a 7-0 run that showed some fight. From there, Crown displayed their depth and made a concerted effort to get inside the paint to draw contact and opportunities at the line. Crown went on a 15-4 run that put them up 65-38 with 13:27 remaining and the Knights would be unable to get any closer, resulting in the double-digit victory for the Polars.

After shooting just 24 percent in the first half, MLC improved to 42 percent (13-for-31) in the second half and hit four shots from deep.

Thomas Balge led MLC with 15 points after shooting 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Trey Lauber was also in double figures with 11 points and seven boards.

MLC falls to 4-17 overall and 2-8 in the UMAC, while Crown goes to 13-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play.

Next up for the men is a road game at North Central on Friday, February 9, at 7:15 p.m.