MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Teams don't typically get much closer to a win than the Luther College men's basketball team did Saturday night. The Norse mounted a furious comeback in their afternoon contest against the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and nearly left Milwaukee, Wisconsin with their second win of the 2022-23 season. Unfortunately, Luther, literally, came up just short, as the Norse fell to the Raiders by a final score of 49-48. With the loss, Luther's record now stands at 1-2 overall.
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The Norse needed to make up plenty of ground after the opening 10 minutes of play, as Luther found itself in an 18-7 deficit with 9:53 remaining in the first half. The Norse hit the reset button in the closing 10 minutes, outsourcing MSOE 15-8 in the final minutes to cut the gap to 26-23 entering the locker room at half. The run started with a three-point basket by Myke Shed (Teague, Texas / Teague) before Aiden Bailey (Dripping Springs, Texas / Dripping Springs) pulled Luther within six at 23-17 with a three-pointer of his own. From there, the Norse continued to chip away at the Raiders lead, eventually pulling within three in the final minutes thanks to a layup by Daniel Webster (Plano, Texas / St. Ignatius).
With the momentum full on its side, Luther went to work in the second half, pulling within one just seconds in thanks to a layup by Ben Gill (Sydney, Australia / Newington College). From there, the Norse managed to take their first lead of the game at 30-28 on a three-pointer by Randall Days (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Wildefield) before extending it to 34-31 on a three-pointer by Cole Peters (Mazeppa, Minn. / Zumbrota-Mazeppa). However, Luther struggled to find consistency on offense in the second half, allowing MSOE to tie and eventually regain a lead at 35-34. Long scoring droughts also didn't help the Norse, as they were unable to capitalize on offensive chances frequently throughout the final 20 minutes of play.
Still, Luther found itself in a position to win thanks to a six-point scoring run with under five minutes to play. Eros Carpio (Tamarac, Fla. / Pine Crest School) scored all six points by himself during the run, boosting the Norse lead to 43-39 with 3:33 remaining in regulation. However, Luther could not hold the four point advantage late in the game, as the Raiders eventually stole the lead at 47-45 and pushed it to 49-45 with 16 seconds remaining in regulation. Days nearly played the hero in the closing seconds, as his second three-pointer of the game cut the MSOE lead to 49-48 with four seconds remaining on the clock. Sadly, the Norse were unable to come up with the game-winning turnover and basket, as they fell to the Raiders by a final score of 49-48.
TOP NORSE
- Eros Carpio (Tamarac, Fla. / Pine Crest School) led Luther in points Saturday afternoon, scoring nine total on 3-5 shooting, including a 2-3 mark from the charity stripe.
- Mitchell Schmieder (Wellman, Iowa / Iowa Mennonite) led with six rebounds for the Norse.
UP NEXT
Luther will return to action on Tuesday, November 25 in its first American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) game of the 2022-23 season. The Norse will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for their first conference game of the year, as they are set to take on Coe College at 7:30 p.m. CT.
