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Men's Basketball

Eagles lose to Luther in final seconds, 63-61

Box Score

ST. PAUL -- Tim Merritt's successful three-point shot with four seconds left in the game lifted Luther College over Northwestern College 63-61 Friday night in the Ericksen Center. Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford)'s (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) last-second three-point attempt from four feet behind the arch fell short, and the Eagles dropped their third game in four contests.

After the Eagles owned a 33-31 advantage at halftime, Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville)'s (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) hot hand gave NWC an eight-point lead with just over 10 minutes left to play in the game. Luther battled back though, tying the score at 56-56 after Dane Larson drained a jumper with 4:37 to go. The game went back and forth for the next few minutes until Merritt's three-ball from the right side overcame a NWC one-point lead for good.

Northwestern failed to reach the 40 percent shooting mark in the game, making 23 of its 58 shots. Luther, on the other hand, finished the game just under 50 percent while also owning a 36-29 tally in rebounding. Many of the Norse's points came under the hoop, which was evidenced by their 28 points in the paint. Northwestern was only able to counter with 20 points in the purple part of the floor throughout 40 minutes of play.

Gisler tied his career high with 16 points in the game, making four of six three-point attempts and six of 12 shots overall. The freshman, who received the starting nod from Eagles' head coach Tim Grosz for the second consecutive game on Friday, has steadily built his season scoring average to 7.7 points per game to go with a 45 percent rate from behind the three-point line.

Reid Berens (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) contributed a near-double-double with 13 points and nine boards, while Lecheler finished with 12 points. Seven of Berens' rebounds were on the offensive side of the court. Eric Garst (Mesa, Ariz./Red Mountain) (Mesa, Ariz./Red Mountain) turned in what is becoming a rather normal performance at the point guard position as the senior finished with seven assists.

Merritt was Luther's leading scorer, shooting 7-16 overall and 4-7 from downtown to produce 18 points. Nnamdi Okolue added 14 points in the win.

With the loss, Northwestern slips to 4-5 on the season while Luther evens its overall record at 3-3. The Eagles will take the remainder of the weekend off before traveling to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls next Tuesday, Dec. 15 for an 8 p.m. affair.
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