NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team was unable to slow down Northwestern in an 81-56 defeat Friday night.

The Eagles entered the game looking to clinch the UMAC championship with a win, but the Knights hung tough for most of the first half until a late run pushed UNW into the break with a 43-30 lead.

MLC picked up its defense in the second half, but was unable to take advantage on the other end as it was held to 38.7 percent shooting in the half.

The Knights finished the game shooting 36.9 percent from the field while UNW shot 48.4 percent. The Eagles also outscored the Knigths 13-4 at the free throw line.

Ian Paulsen was the lone MLC player in double figures with 11 points. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Luke Rothe finished with nine points and a team-high four assists. Those four assists pushed gave him the school record with 371 assists for his career, passing Head Coach Greg Holzhueter's total of 370.

MLC fell to 1-23 on the season and 0-15 in UMAC play in defeat. UNW improved to 18-6 overall and 13-2 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, February 18) when they host North Central in the season finale. That game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.