MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central battled with Martin Luther for the full 40 minutes on Saturday afternoon. The Rams led by a point with less than a minute left but a put-back for the Knights lifted them to a 53-51 win over North Central.

One night after struggling to shoot the ball and only converting ten field goals over a full 40 minute game versus Bethany Lutheran, North Central (4-10, 1-4 UMAC) came out ready to go on Saturday afternoon. The first half was a back and forth 20 minutes with Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.) pushing ahead early on before the Rams took a 19-14 lead with less than 9 minutes to go in the half. The Knights answered back with a run of their own to take a 26-19 lead at the 3:21. However, the Rams stayed in the game and trailed just 26-23 at the break.

In the second half North Central led for long stretches of a see-saw final 20 minutes. The Rams led by as many as five points, 38-33, with 13:48 left on lay-in off a nice cut to the rim by freshman Marissa Kari (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes). Martin Luther would battle back and led 50-46 and had three chances to add to the difference before Kari hit a three point shot that made it a one-point game with 2:15 remaining.

The Rams forced a turnover on the ensuing inbounding play and freshman Lizzy Swanson (Askov, Minn./East Central) made a heads up play on North Central's next inbound attempt under their own hoop. When the defender guarding the ball turned her back to Swanson she tossed the ball off the back of the defender, established herself in play, collected the ball and got an easy lay-in to take a 51-50 lead with 1:50 left.

Despite getting several stops on defense over the final two minutes the Rams committed three turnovers in the final 90 seconds. Martin Luther missed a three point shot with 21 seconds left but an offensive rebound and put back gave the Knights a 52-51 lead. With six seconds left an errant pass ended the Rams final chance to hit a game winning shot.

Mariss Kari was the leading scorer for North Central with 16 points on 3-6 shooting behind the three point line. Junior Jamie High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) added 13 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks and 4 steals. Lizzy Swanson added 14 points and 3 rebounds.

The Rams will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Crossroads College (Rochester, Minn.) in a non-conference game. The Rams and Knights are set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.