MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- Men's Basketball earned an emotional victory over Trinity Bible College at home on Saturday evening. The Rams and Lions engaged in an exciting finish that saw the teams exchange leads five times in the final fifty seconds before Luke Chafin hit a shot with less than a second remaining to give NCU an 87-86 win.

North Central (4-2, 0-0) got in front early on in the first half and led 18-10 with 14:23 left in the first half. That would be the largest margin for NCU as Trinity slowly chiseled away before taking the lead for the first time with 1:56 in the opening half by a 48-45 differential. The Lions went to the locker room with all the momentum and a 53-46 lead. 

Trinity resisted the Rams comeback attempts through out the second half and got up by a 59-50 difference that represented their largest lead at the 17:15 mark. The Rams then ripped off an 11-3 run to tie the game 61-61 on a three point basket from junior Josh High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) with 12:14 left. The Lions would take the lead back and stood in front 77-73 with 4:35 on the clock and that would be last time it would be a two possesion game.

From that point sophomore Luke Chafin (Dayton, Ohio/Troy Christian) stamped his name on the Rams and Lions friendly rivalry. With just more than two minutes left Chafin got a lay up that tied the game at 80-80. After the Lions converted a pair of free throws to take back the lead Chafin got lose on the right side of the lane and hit a leaner off the glass, was fouled and converted the free throw to give the Rams their first lead in over 30 minutes with just 47 seconds left to begin a crazy sequence.

Trinity got back in front on a lay up with 28 seconds left but Chafin used a spin move in the lane to get by the denfense and give NCU an 86-85 lead that looked like it might be the difference. With 16 seconds left Trinity made an outstanding heads up play by connecting on a long run out pass that was laid in less than 4 seconds later and appeared to break the hearts of the Rams.

But Chafin saved the best for last, taking the in bound pass and running all the way to the other end and pulling up for a jumper on the right elbow. The shot touched nothing but nylon and left just 5 tenths of a second on the clock. A long pass was deflected away and NCU earned the 87-86 win.

Chafin finished the game with 20 points and 4 rebounds. Senior Bryce Burkman (Winsted, Minn./Maple Grove) was every bit as important to the Rams efforts with 16 points and 12 rebounds despite missing time with foul trouble. 

Josh High added 12 points and 4 rebounds. Freshman Juice Washington (St. Louis, Mo./Maplewood-Richmond Heights) also notched a crutial double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) scored 11 points despite playing just 21 minutes and fouling out.

North Central will be off until next weekend when they take a road trip to Iowa. Friday, December 13, the Rams travel to the University of Dubuque (Dububue, Iowa) for a 7:30 p.m. tip off. Saturday NCU will play at Faith Baptist Bible College in a game scheduled for 4 p.m.