NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team opened the season with a 79-69 defeat at home to Beloit College on Friday.

The two teams went back and forth throughout the first half, but the Buccaneers built a 37-32 halftime lead thanks to 13 points from Michael Polakoski. 

Beloit led throughout the second half, but the Knights would not let the Buccaneers pull away. MLC cut the deficit to two (50-48) after a Joseph Hirsch jump shot with 8:42 to play, but Beloit responded with a 12-3 run to push its lead back into double figures, and then held off one final charge from the Knights down the stretch to secure the win. 

The Buccaneers shot 45.0 percent overall and 31.8 percent from three-point range, but the difference in the game proved to come down to the free throw line, where Beloit out-scored the Knights 18-8.

MLC shot 39.7 percent overall and 35.0 percent from beyond the arc, and finished with three players in double figures. Hirsch led the way with 19 points, while Ezra Blumer and Paul Frick added 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Hirsch and Frick also tied for the team lead with four assists.

MLC fell to 0-1 to start the season in defeat, and will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, November 6) when it hosts Lakeland at 3:00 p.m.