Courtesy of Adam Hussman/MLC SID

NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College men’s basketball team took on Lawrence University for another nonconference meeting with the Vikings from Appleton, WI. The Knights found themselves down by as many as 14 points in the second half (60-46) and made several attempts at a comeback, but Lawrence made just enough plays down the stretch to hold off MLC for a final score of 83-79.

MLC began the game ready to go and went up 12-4, forcing a quick timeout from the Lawrence bench with just four minutes passed. From there, the Vikings regrouped and applied full-court pressure to throw off MLC’s rhythm on offense. As a result, the Vikings held MLC to 36 percent shooting and 14 percent from 3-point territory in the first half.

Still, MLC was in the game and cut it to 39-34 with less than a minute left in the first half after Benjamin Vasold made a nice move to the rim for a layup.

In the second half, while it looked like the Vikings would pull away, the freshmen trio of Benjamin Pearson, Adam Loberger, and Vasold got going and helped MLC cut their double-digit deficit to 68-67 after going on a 21-8 scoring run over six minutes. During that run, Pearson confidently knocked down multiple 3-pointers and Ethan Kjenstad got involved inside and out offensively.

However, Lawrence made hustle plays such as a Casey Schoenecker dunk and clutch free throws allowed for the Vikings to put a halt to the Knights’ comeback.

Nathan Valentine led Lawrence with 24 points and showed his range with four 3-pointers. Schoenecker also dropped 20 points and was a force in the paint for the Vikings.

Kjenstad scored a season-high 24 points and recorded his first double-double of the year by grabbing 11 rebounds. Pearson also finished with a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards, while going 5 for 9 from beyond the arc.

MLC (2-3) will resume their season following Thanksgiving Break on Tuesday, December 10, at 7 p.m. against Buena Vista in the LSC gymnasium.