MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central University Men's Basketball trailed for all but the last second of the second half and led for less than one minute throughout the entire contest. But when the final buzzer sounded the Rams earned a thrilling comeback victory by a 74-73 final margin over Martin Luther College at home on Saturday night and moved to 2-1 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. 

The Rams (8-6, 2-1) struggled to puncture the Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.) zone defense through the first 20 minutes and shot just 9-31 (.290) in the opening half, were out rebounded 22-15 and committed 10 turnovers. Martin Luther took advantage by shooting over .500 from the floor to take a 41-28 lead to the locker room.

In the second 20 minutes the Rams rigthed their shooting stats by firing 18-30 (.600) from the floor and getting to the rim more often, resulting in 14 second half free throws. In a near reversal of the first half Martin Luther fired just 12-32 (.375) in the second half. The key stat, however remained the Knights shooting just 5-13 from the free throw line which allowed the Rams a pair of late game opportunities to steal the victory.

North Central was able to chisel the MLC lead down to a single posession ball game several times but each time the Knights were able to recover and regain a 2-3 possession margin. But an epic second half effort from senior Nathan Roeder (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) helped the Rams keep within reach. His teammates also made big plays when it mattered and NCU faced a 73-70 margin with exactly 2 minutes remaining.

Junior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) came up with a big steal to stop a Knights possession with 1:19 remaining. Despite Harrell missing a pair of free throws junior Bryce Burkman (Winsted, Minn./Maple Grove) came up with a huge defensive rebound after a late shot clock three point attempt from MLC that gave the Rams the ball with 46 seconds remaining. 

Senior Dylan McKneely (Baton Rouge, La./Broadmoor) then converted a dazzling off balance lay-in on the left side of the lane to set the score at 73-72 with 38 seconds left. A North Central foul gave the Knights two free throws which they missed and gave the Rams life with 30 seconds left. But Nathan Roeder turned the ball over after hard contact in the middle of the lane and the Knights found themselves still up 73-72 with less 18 ticks left.

Another Rams foul gave the Knights a pair of free throws which were both missed once again and Bryce Burkman snaged the rebound to give NCU the ball and a shot at the game winner with nine seconds left. Roeder then got all the way to the rim and drew a foul with 1.3 seconds on the clock. He calmly sunk both, wrapped around a pair of Knights timeouts, and MLC was unable to get a shot off to give the Rams a 74-73 win.

Nathan Roeder led all scorers with 34 points and 6 rebounds. Jordan Harrell added 9 points and 9 rebounds while junior Matthew Shepard (Counsil Bluffs, Iowa/Homeschool) came off the bench to add 8 points.

The Rams will be back in action next Friday, January 18 with a road game at Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.). The Rams and Storm will tip off at 7:30 p.m.

For full video replay of Friday's exciting Rams comeback victory visit:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/28433652