Beloit, WI - The
Martin Luther College men's basketball team took on the Beloit Buccaneers of the Midwest Conference on Tuesday night. The two teams have met only once, with Beloit defeating MLC 79-69 in the 2021-2022 season. The Knights came out ready to play in search of their third win of the season and were within single-digits late in the second half, but came up just short, falling to the Buccaneers
78-72.
In the first half, Beloit would have multiple 7-0 runs to jumpstart their offense, but the Knights remained composed during the Buccaneers offensive outbursts, never letting the deficit fall below eight points. Both teams shot the ball well in the first half, with the Knights shooting 41.2 percent, while the Buccaneers shot 44.4 percent. Neither team shot efficiently from 3-point territory, but both had a decent amount of volume in perimeter shots, with MLC going 6-of-20 (30 percent) and Beloit 5-of-17 on (29.4 percent). After the back and forth pace of the game, the Buccaneers found themselves with the 43-37 advantage at the half.
The second half began with an energetic 11-0 run from Beloit, that mainly came off of aggressive drives to the basket. MLC would put an end to the Buccaneers scoring barrage with a
Thomas Balge layup to make it 54-39 at the 15:04 mark. After that sequence, both squads went into offensive lulls, with the pace slowing down as a result. The Knights stayed within double-digits of Beloit until the 5:10 mark when
Paul Frick made a driving layup to pull MLC within eight points (67-59). The Knights would then get an added boost from
Seth Veers, who hit a corner 3-pointer to make it 67-62 with 4:34 remaining.
MLC played tough physical defense in the next few minutes, but
Azeez Ganiyu kept multiple possessions alive after securing two offensive boards on a missed jumper and free throw. The second chance points late ultimately gave Beloit the advantage and sealed the win six-point win over the Knights.
Ezra Blumer would have another double-double performance (10 points, 11 rebounds)and was active in crashing the offensive glass.
Micah Kieselhorst also contributed heavily with 14 points.
Overall, the Knights (2-19,0-10) remained competitive in a game that could've gotten out of hand and will now look to close out their next contest on the road when they face UM-Morris on Friday, February, 10.
