ST. PAUL - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team was unable to contain the efficient Northwestern-St. Paul offense in a 99-68 loss on Saturday.

The game featured the highest-scoring team in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) in UNW (89.0 points per game in conference play) against the number one scoring defense in MLC (70.4) points per game), and the Knights held an early 17-15 lead until the Eagles answered with a 13-0 run on the way to a 50-34 halftime lead.

The Knights held within striking distance early in the second half and trailed 64-49 with 11:24 to play in the game, but the Eagles put the game out of reach with one final run to secure the win.

UNW finished the game shooting 52.5 percent from the field and made eight of 22 attempts from beyond the three-point arc. MLC shot 39.5 percent overall, but struggled to shoot 3-22 from downtown.

Ethan Eisenmann and Jonathan Riebe led MLC with 11 points apiece, while Richard Eckmann joined them in double figures with 10 points.

Five UNW players finished with at least 10 points in the game.

MLC fell to 5-10 overall and 2-5 in UMAC play in defeat. The Eagles improved to 10-6 on the season and 6-1 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Wednesday, January 16, when they host Crown College in a game scheduled to tip off at 7:15 p.m.