NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team saw its comeback attempt fall short in an 86-78 defeat to UW-Superior on Wednesday.

The Knights struggled with 11 first-half turnovers, but took some momentum into the halftime locker room after Caleb Westra's half court buzzer beater to cut the Yellowjackets' lead to 43-35 at the break.

UWS started strong in the second half, pushing its lead back to 13 points, but MLC slowly cut into its deficit until finally taking its first lead of the game (70-69) on a Jonathan Riebe jumper with just over four minutes to play. 

The lead went back and forth several times down the stretch, but the Yellowjackets' Eli Vogel made several clutch three-pointers, and UWS then closed the game at the free throw line to secure the win. Vogel finished with a game-high 28 points.

The MLC defense pressured the Yellowjackets into shooting 37.5 percent in the second half, but could not keep UWS off the free throw line in critical moments. The Yellowjackets went 20-25 from the charity stripe in the second half, and out-scored MLC 22-12 for the game at the line. 

The Knights overcame a slow start to both halves thanks to a strong performance from the bench. Riebe led the Knights with 18 points, while Westra added 16 points. Jared Witkowiak was the lone MLC starter in double figures with 11 points. Micah Kieselhorst added a game-high 12 rebounds.

MLC fell to 1-9 on the season and 0-7 in UMAC play in defeat. UWS improved to 2-2 overall and 2-2 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, February 27, when they host Northland College in the regular season finale. That game is scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m.