DECORAH, Iowa  – The rims in the Regents Center can be unforgiving. That was a lesson the Luther College men's basketball team learned the hard way Saturday afternoon. The Norse played one of their best games of the 2022-23 season, holding Central College to under 30 points in the first half and under 65 points overall. Luther additionally gave itself a chance to win. Down 62-60, the Norse had the ball with 2.2 seconds remaining on the clock. Unfortunately, the rim decided to play a cruel joke of irony on Luther, as Andrew Lazinbat's (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) shot spun three times before falling the opposite direction, resulting in a 62-60 Norse loss. After Saturday, Luther's record now stands at 3-12, and the team is 0-7 in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play. 

BY THE NUMBERS
It was a game of big men and defense from the get go, as the Norse and Dutch two centrals scored the majority of their teams points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Ben Gill (Sydney, Australia / Newington College) and Joshua Van Gorp scored the first six points of the game before Lazinbat managed to break up the center scoring barrage. From there, only the junior point guard would score for the Norse, as he went on a eight point scoring run by himself to secure a 12-11 Luther lead five minutes into the game. 

The one point lead was indicative of how close Saturday's contest was. Shots were hard to come by, and the first significant lead didn't come until the seven minute mark. Thanks to baskets by Bill and Aidan Bailey (Dripping Springs, Texas / Dripping Springs) boosted to Norse lead to 23-17, which helped Luther hold a 27-23 advantage entering the locker room at halftime. 

Luther bolstered its lead early in the second half, again using Gill's size inside to maintain an advantage over Central. However, a four minute scoreless stretch allowed the Dutch to cut the lead to a single point before taking their first since early in the first half at 34-33. That seemingly reignited the Norse lead, as they regained a possession lead to 39-36 with 11 minutes remaining in regulation. Two minutes later, Central tied the score at 41-41 and went on to outscore Luther 13-6 in the ensuing five minutes. 

Down 58-49 with 2:02 remaining in regulation, the Norse put together a furious two-minute warning drill. Gill started the rally, cutting the lead to 58-51 with a layup under the basket before Daniel Webster (Plano, Texas / St. Ignatius) made it a five point game with exactly 1:00 remaining on the clock. At that point, Luther started to foul, and Central failed to make its free throws. Shot after shot came up short, and the Norse were able to take advantage, as Lazinbat made it a one point possession game with 31 seconds left, scoring his 16th point of the night to make it 58-55. 

The Dutch finally converted one free throw attempt on their ensuing offensive possession but turned right around and fouled Randall Days (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Widefield) beyond the arc. The junior forward drained all three free throws, making it 59-58 with 19 seconds left in regulation. Those closing 19 seconds were the most thrilling of the day, as Central marched right down the court and went up 60-58 on a layup by Drew Edwards. Bailey responded by tying the game at 60-60 with seven seconds left, seemingly sending it to overtime. Edwards answered before the Norse could blink, sprinting down the court to score a layup with two seconds remaining in regulation. Still, Luther had a legitimate chance at overtime, as the Norse had the ball in their territory and a chance to tie. With the clock winding down, Lazinbat put up an off balance jumper from the corner and watched as it sailed toward the basket. It bounced up off the rim once, as the horn sounded, then circled the rim. Once. Twice. Three times, before falling over and out, away from the net, resulting in the 62-60 loss. 

TOP NORSE

• Ben Gill (Sydney, Australia / Newington College) was the leading scorer for Luther Saturday afternoon, as he tallied 20 points on 9-14 shooting.
• Andrew Lazinbat (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) put together another impressive game, as he scored 16 points on 6-14 shooting and led the team with seven rebounds. . 

UP NEXT
Luther will return to action on Wednesday, as the team travels to Dubuque, Iowa for another American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) contest. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the University of Dubuque.