ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn.-- Men's Basketball was slow getting started and dug a big hole over the first twenty minutes on Saturday. The second 20 minutes were spent clawing back in but the Rams comeback came up just short in a 99-87 loss at Crown College.

North Central (7-10, 3-4 UMAC) was victimized by a red hot shooting performance over the first half. Crown shot well over .500 for the first twenty minutes and the Rams trailed by as many as 20 before settling for a 48-33 scoreline at halftime.

The Rams clawed back several times in the second half and looked like they might have momentum to steal the victory. Within the first five minutes of the second half the Rams got to within 55-50 before Crown hit one of their 13, three point shots, drew a foul and converted the free throw to totally change momentum once again.

Crown pushed the difference back out to 74-63 with 10:38 left on another three point shot and the Rams had to fight back from double figures once again. Over the next five minutes North Central battled back to make it 77-74 before Crown got yet another three point shot from James Brown who scored 35 points in the game and started another Crown surge with 5:17 left.

North Central got within 90-85 and appeared to have a steal and lay-up that would have made it a single possession game with 41 seconds left. But senior Luke Chafin (Dayton, Ohio/Troy Christian) was called for a travel a split second before he converted his steal. Crown held on from there converting free throws and running out the clock.

Luke Chafin did all he could on Saturday pouring in a career high 35 points on 12-21 shooting from the floor. Senior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove added 12 points while freshman Travis Voigt (Green Bay, Wis./N.E.W. London) scored 11. North Central shot the ball very well, hitting 29-55 (.527) from the floor but could not match the Storm who fired 35-59 (.593).

The Storm's offense was especially bolstered by hitting 13-22 (.591) from the three point line, significantly better than their .287 clip on the season. North Central was just 3-11 (.308) from three point land, down from their .409 season percentage.

The Rams will be back in action on Tuesday when they host The University Northwestern (St. Paul, Minn.) in a game that marks the second portion of round robin play in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. The Rams and Eagles are set for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.