MINNEAPOLIS-- Men's Basketball took a while to find their rhythm on Saturday before grabbing control late and taking a 99-93 win over Finlandia University. North Central used five double-figure scorers, with a trio reaching the 20 point plateau, to overcome a slow start in get a home victory.

North Central (10-8, 7-2 UMAC) took a while to shrug off a tough loss in conference play on Friday when they took the floor on Saturday afternoon against Finlandia University (Houghton, Mich.). North Central scored first but the first twenty minutes was a seesaw game with four lead changes and three ties before the Lions gained traction and took a five point lead with 28 seconds left. Junior Isaiah Rustad (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) hit a 75-foot buzzer beater at the close of the half to trim the Finlandia lead to 44-42.

In the second half the teams traded leads several times more before the Rams gained an edge with around 15 minutes left. North Central retook the lead on a made three pointer from freshman Jared High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) with 13:17 to go and the Rams would never trail again. NCU would push their advantage all the way to 85-70 at the 7:07 mark and it stretched to 15 again on a three point play conversion by sophomore Joel Cline (Green Bay, Wis./Southwest) with 3:26 left that made it 91-76. The Lions would fight back but NCU went 8-8 at the free throw line in the final 73 seconds to finish off the win.

KEY SEQUENCE OF THE GAME

In a game filled with runs the decive move proved to be a three minute stretch in the middle of the second half that created the Rams 15-point advantage. After Finlandia hit a three pointer with 10:27 to go in the second half North Central led 71-68. Joel Cline answered with a pair of free throws and NCU got a stop on defense. Senior Josh High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) then drained one of his six three pointers on the night to give NCU a 76-68 lead with 9:47 left.

After another defensive stop for NCU, senior Cody Martin (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) hit a pair of free throws to made the lead double-figures for the first time of the night for North Central. NCU got a third consecutive stop on defense but turned it over in transition and the Lions got a lay-up. That did not serve to stop the Rams momentum and Isaiah Rustad reinstated the Rams double-figure lead. A Finlandia turnover on their next trip gave the Rams back the ball with 7:51 to play.

Jared High got a lay-up, the Rams forced another tough shot from distance and Josh High closed a 14-2 run with three pointer that made it 85-70 with 7:07 left. That distance proved to be big enough to hold off any final surge by the Lions.

KEY PERFORMANCES OF THE GAME

A trifecta of Rams reached 20 points scoring and five players notched double-figures. All proved to be influential at different points of the game. Joel Cline led all scorers with a career high 26 points and a game high 12 rebounds. Isaiah Rustad also equaled a career high with 21 points and a  crucial 4-4 record at the free throw line. Cody Martin also scored 20 points and narrowly missed a double-double with 9 assists while shooting a perfect 8-8 at the free throw line.

Josh High scored 19 points with 5 assists and hit 6 three pointers, moving to second place all in the NCU career record books, needing just 8 more to equal the record. Jared High added 11 points.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Both teams shot over .500 from the floor in the first half
• Finlandia cooled off in the second half but NCU turned up the heat firing .654 (17-26)
• The Lions outrebouned NCU 41-32
• North Central recorded 22 assists to help overcome 11 turnovers
• The Rams fired 15-18 at the free throw line in the second half which helped to build and secure their lead

UP NEXT

North Central goes on the road for a pair of important Upper Midwest Athletic Conference league games looking to keep pace at the top of the league standings. Friday the Rams are at Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.) for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off before playing at The University of Minnesota-Morris (Morris, Minn.) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.