ASHLAND, Wis. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team opened the new year with its first win of the season at Northland by the score of 72-70 Saturday.

The Knights trailed 40-36 at the half, but came back to build a nine-point lead at 67-58 with 4:25 to play in the game.

The Lumberjacks would threaten, however, cutting that lead to one point at 71-70 with just under two minutes to play.

Still clinging to that one-point lead, the Lumberjacks raced to a fast break to try to score the go-ahead basket with 30 seconds remaining, but Michael Paulsen blocked the lay-up attempt and kept the ball in play, allowing the Knights to hold on for the win.

Todd Brassow finished with a game-high 27 points on 11-22 shooting from the field to lead the Knights, who shot 41.9 percent from the field for the game. Paulsen added 15 points and a team-high five assists, while T.J. Babinec joined them in double figures with ten points.

MLC improved to 1-9 on the season overall and 1-3 in UMAC play following the win. The loss dropped Northland to 0-11 on the season and 0-5 in league play.

The Knights will return to action tomorrow (Sunday, January 3) when they travel to Finlandia for a game scheduled to start at 3 p.m.