MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team saw its comeback attempt from a 17-point deficit come up short in a 78-75 loss at North Central on Friday night.

The Knights trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, but 17 points from Joseph Hirsch helped cut the deficit to 38-32 at the half.

The Rams tried to put the game away early in the second half with a 17-6 run to push its lead to 55-38 with 13:32 to play, but the Knights would not go away quietly. Trailing 62-50 with 6:52 remaining, the Knights answered with an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to three with over four minutes still left in the game.

NCU answered with a run of its own to push its lead back to 72-65, but the Knights continued to battle and cut the deficit down to two (77-75) with 15 seconds remaining following a tough corner three-pointer from Ezra Blumer. 

After the Rams split a pair of free throws, the Knights had one final chance to tie the game, but Hirsch's long three-pointer at the buzzer hit the back of the rim and would not go down as the Rams escaped with the win.

Hirsch was the driving force of the MLC offense throughout the night and finished with a career-high 30 points on 13-20 shooting for the game. Blumer and Jacob Price each added 12 points, with 19 of those 24 combined points coming in the second half. Price also added a team (and career) high 12 rebounds. 

MLC fell to 5-19 on the season and 2-11 in UMAC play in defeat. The Rams improved to 14-10 overall and 8-5 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, February 19) when they travel to Northwestern for a game scheduled to start at 4:45 p.m.