After a 15-day layoff, the Northern State University men’s basketball squad was back on the court Sunday afternoon, and found itself in a fight to the end with the visiting Midland Lutheran College Warriors. The Wolves, playing in their first game since an exhilarating win over Minnesota State on Dec. 13, managed to outlast the Warriors 77-74 to improve to 10-1 on the season.The Wolves, ranked 19th in the country in the latest NABC/Division II Coaches Poll, needed a few late-game heroics from junior Mitch Boeck (Arlington, S.D.) and senior Kevin Ratzsch (Bloomington, Ill.) to pull out the victory after the Warriors snagged the lead at 71-70 at the 2:10 mark. MLC erased an 11-point deficit in just under three minutes, using a 13-4 run capped by an Evan Lamprecht layup to take the lead.
The win also marks career victory number 901 for NSU head coach Don Meyer, who is now just one win shy of the NCAA career record held by Bob Knight.
The Wolves will be back in action next weekend, as they resume Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with road games at Winona State and Upper Iowa on Friday and Saturday, respectively. NSU returns home on Jan. 10 for a televised match-up against the University of Mary.
