St. Bonifacius, MN - The Martin Luther College Knights and the Crown Polars traded baskets late in the second half of their UMAC game on Saturday afternoon. MLC held the lead for much of the contest, but the Polars went on a 12-2 run in the last 2:30 minutes of action and skated by the Knights by a final score of 83-73. The game was tied up 71-71 following an Ethan Kjenstad layup, but Carter Behne connected on a pair of 3-pointers to jumpstart the Crown run.

MLC entered the second half with a 36-31 lead and had some control of the game, going up by as many as 14 points at one point in the first half. However, the shots that didn't go in in the first 20 minutes of play went in for the Polars later on as they upped their field goal percentage to a 48 percent clip in the second half. Crown would benefit from a couple of 21-point performances from Tyrus Buckner and John Grigsby. Buckner did his damage in the paint, where Grigsby was productive from the outside, shooting 7-of-13 from deep.

The game featured 15 lead changes and 10 ties, but the Polars made the plays necessary down the stretch.  Adam Loberger led all MLC players with 20 points, while also tying for the lead in assists (4) and rebounds (7). Three other Knights' reached double figures, including 11 points apiece from Luke Fix and Tom Balge, while Trey Lauber finished with 10 and four assists. Freshman Benjamin Vasold also made a big impact defensively, recording a career-best with six steals.

MLC goes to 3-6 overall, 0-2 UMAC, and will now get back into the swing of playing more frequently as the second semester approaches. MLC is back at it on Monday, January 13, at 7 p.m. when they head to Augsburg for a nonconference matchup.