NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team chased down UW-Superior (UWS) in the second half to score a 62-61 win on Friday.

The Knights trailed 32-25 at halftime, and things didn't look any better as the Yellowjackets pushed their advantage to nine (45-36) with 12:10 to play in the second half.

MLC took control from there, outscoring UWS 24-6 over the next nine minutes to take a 60-51 lead. But as has been the case for much of the season, things wouldn't be that easy down the stretch.

UWS answered with a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead at 61-60 in the final minute, but Ezra Blumer's acrobatic layup with 4.5 seconds left gave the Knights the lead, and the Yellowjackets' final attempt from beyond the three-point line at the buzzer rimmed out to give MLC the win.

MLC outscored the Yellowjackets 37-29 in the second half thanks to 58.6 percent shooting from the field. While the Knights struggled from beyond the arc throughout the game, they shot 23-38 (including 16-22 in the second half) from two-point range and finished the day shooting 50.0 percent overall.

First-year forward Seth Veers led the way with 16 points on 7-7 shooting from the field. Six of those field goals came in the second half, where he scored 12 points to lead the comeback.

Jack Heichelbech battled foul trouble throughout the night to score 13 points, while Blumer finished with 11 points.

MLC improved to 4-16 on the season and 1-8 in UMAC play with the win. UWS fell to 7-12 overall and 4-5 in league play in defeat.

The Knights will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, February 5) when they host Northland College in a game scheduled to tip off at 4:45 p.m.