MANKATO, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team was denied its first win of the season in an 85-79 overtime loss at Bethany Lutheran College on Saturday.
The teams went back and forth throughout the game, which featured 14 ties and nine lead changes over the course of play.
The Knights had a chance to win in regulation, with two shots at the basket in the final 12 seconds, but could not get either to drop on the way to the extra stanza.Â
In extra time, BLC jumped on top early with the first four points, and held off the Knights the rest of the way for the win.
Both teams finished with a field goal percentage of 40.3, but went about it differently. The Knights made nine three-pointers, five of which came from
T.J. Babinec.Â
The Vikings did their work inside, outscoring the Knights 40-14 in the paint, and dominating the glass on the way to a 60-31 rebounding advantage (leading to a 31-5 advantage in second-chance points). The Vikings also went to the free throw line 22 more times than the Knights, and outscored them 27-12 at the charity stripe in the game.
MLC was led by
Todd Brassow, who tied his career high with 31 points on 14-23 shooting from the field. Babinec finished with 21 points, one off his career high, while
Michael Paulsen added ten points.
The Knights fell to 0-8 overall and 0-3 in UMAC play in defeat. BLC improved its record to 3-6 this season and 2-1 in conference play with the win.
MLC will return to action on Thursday, December 17, when it hosts Central in a game scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m.
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