MINNEAPOLIS - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team opened the season with a buzzer-beating defeat at North Central by the score of 93-92 in non-conference action.

The Knights battled back from a big early deficit to take its first lead of the game with 1:38 to play in the game, and held a four-point lead in the final seconds. NCU able to cut the deficit to two points with two seconds remaining, and then won the game on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Barnabas Preble after a stolen inbounds pass.

NCU jumped out to a 12-2 lead and led by as many as 18 points before the Knights cut the deficit to 47-40 with a 21-10 run to close the first half. 

The Knights continued hang tough in the second half thanks to a full court pressure defense that helped them force 18 NCU turnovers, and finally broke through for their first lead of the game with under two minutes to play following an Ezra Blumer three-pointer.

MLC looked to have put the game to bed in the final seconds thanks to a pair of free throws by Jonathan Riebe, but the Rams rallied to score the final five points to win the game.

The Rams' winning three-pointer was their 14th make from downtown for the game. After starting the game 9-13 from deep, NCU finished 14-26 from beyond the arc. 

MLC countered with 11 three-point makes and did much of its damage down low with 46 points in the paint, but struggled from the foul line to make nine of 18 attempts.

Joseph Hirsch made all six of his shots (including all four three-pointers) to tie Jack Heichelbech for the team lead with 16 points. Micah Kieselhorst added 14 points, while Blumer finished with 13 in his collegiate debut.

MLC fell to 0-1 on the season in defeat, while NCU improved to 2-5 with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, January 30, when they travel to Northwestern-St. Paul for the start of league play. That game was added after the originally scheduled contest at UW-Superior was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. The game at UNW will tip off at 2 p.m.