MINNEAPOLIS-- Men's Basketball came up on the short end of a hard fought game on Friday night. The Rams fell for just the second time this season in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference action in a 80-78 loss to Northland College.

North Central (9-8, 7-2 UMAC) and Northland College locked in a back and forth affair for the full 40 minutes with lots of momentum changes and plenty of big plays. The lead changed hands nine times on the evening with five ties. Northland led by as many as 10 in the second half before the Rams rallied to retake the lead, 69-66, with less than 5 minutes left in the game.

In the final two minutes the lead changed hands three times before the Jacks were able to close out the the win with a steal that took away the Rams final chance to take the lead with 18 seconds left. Northland converted free throws and an NCU three pointer at the buzzer established the final scoreline.

KEY SEQUENCE OF THE GAME

After trailing by double-figures in the second half the Rams surged back to take a 69-66 lead with 4:40 left. But Northland got a lay-up on their next possession and drew a foul. They missed the free throw by grabbed an offensive rebound which ended up being a made three pointer by the Jacks, giving the visitors a 71-69 lead.

Freshman Jared High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) answered with a huge three pointer to restore the Rams lead at 72-71 with 3:06 remaining. NCU got a stop on defense but missed lay-up on the other end. North Central managed an offensive rebound but missed a wide open three pointer and Northland answered with a made three-ball of their own to lead 74-72. 

Junior Isaiah Rustad (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) got an old-fashioned three point play to give the Rams a 75-74 lead with one minute left. After the Rams forced an off balance shot an offensive rebound was put up and, the Rams turned it over on their out of bounds play and the Jacks finished off the win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• NCU outrebounded the Lumberjacks, 39-35, but Northland made up the difference by outshooting the Rams.
• NCU fired .419 but Northland shot .479 and made three more field goals
• Pair of techincal fouls hurt the Rams as North Central's second leading scorer Joel Cline fouled out with over 14 minutes to go in the game having logged just 17 minutes, posting 5 points and 2 rebounds

KEY PERFORMERS

North Central was led by Jared High who posted a game high 21 popints and 6 rebounds. Senior Cody Martin (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) aded 13 points and 6 assists in the loss. Martin has posted 23 assists over his last 3 games and was 4-4 at the free throw line in the final two minutes on Friday.

UP NEXT

North Central hosts Finlandia University (Houghton, Mich.) in a non-conference game on Saturday at 3 p.m.