ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team suffered a tough defeat in the final minute by the score of 73-71 at Crown College on Wednesday.

It was a game of runs for both teams, as the Storm broke free early to a 27-20 lead, but MLC responded with a 17-2 run late in the half on the way to a 37-33 lead at the break.

Crown took control early in the second half and built a 64-56 lead with under eight minutes to play, but the Knights once again fought back with a 14-4 run and took 70-68 lead on a Jack Heichelbech lay-up with 1:27 to play in the game.

After Ian Paulsen pushed the MLC lead to 71-68 on a free throw with 1:11 to play, the Storm made five of six free throw attempts in the final minute to take a two-point lead. MLC had one final chance with one second to play, but a full court inbounds pass was tipped and the Knights were unable to get a final shot off at the buzzer.

The Knights shot 41.9 percent from the field and held the Storm to 40.3 percent (including 4-22 from beyond the three-point arc), but struggled to stop reigning UMAC Player of the Year Tim Wendel, who finished with 30 points (on 12-18 shooting from the field) and 14 rebounds for the Storm.

Four MLC players finished in double figures, led by Heichelbech, Paulsen and Austin DeNoyer with 14 points apiece. Jacob Price and Joseph Hirsch added 11 and nine points, respectively, off the bench.

MLC fell to 3-11 on the season and 0-6 in UMAC play in defeat. Crown improved to 5-9 overall and 4-3 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, January 18, when they travel to Northland College for a game scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m.