Concordia University Wisconsin's Noah Gosse hit the go-ahead free throws with 28 seconds left and his team closed out the game with foul shots to defeat the Lakeland University men's basketball team 76-71 Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies lost a close game at home for the second time in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play and dropped to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in conference. Concordia improved to 4-1 overall and is now 3-0 in the NACC after winning the 122nd meeting in the long-running history between the two schools, which is now tied 61-61.

Lakeland summoned a game effort while playing without leading scorer Brandon James (Jr.-Rockford, Ill.), who was out with an ankle injury. The Muskies played from behind almost the entire night but continued to chase and finally took the lead late, only to see the Falcons make more plays down the stretch.

Lakeland took its first lead of the second half with 1:51 left in the game on a driving bank shot by Pat McDonald (So.-Port Washington, Wis.) that made it 69-68, the Muskies' first lead since 15-13 in the first half. Concordia answered with a jumper by Josh Erickson to retake the lead, but Lakeland went ahead again on a layup by Mark Gryszkiewicz (Sr.-Sussex, Wis.) making it 71-70 with 1:10 left.

The Falcons tied it back up when Gosse split two free throws with 49 seconds left, and Gosse then came up with a huge steal with 28 seconds left, a play in which he was fouled. Gosse hit both free shots, and the Muskies missed in the lane on the other end, with CUW grabbing the rebound. Josh Hau then made three of four foul shots in the final 15 seconds, and Lakeland missed a pair of three-point attempts the rest of the way.

The Muskies trailed from the 8:20 mark of the first half until deep into the second half, falling behind by as many as 14 points late in the first half. Lakeland crawled back within 39-30 at halftime, though, and continued to get closer in the second half, even tying the game at 43-43 and again at 56-all, only to see the Falcons retake the lead both times.

The Muskies shot 38.8% for the game (26 of 67), shaking off a cold 10-for-35 first half (28.6%) to hit 16 of 32 in the second half (50.0). Lakeland also had a turnaround defensively, limiting Concordia to 35.5% shooting (11 of 31) in the second half after the guests shot 55.6% in the first half (15 of 27).

The free throw line also proved to be a difference, with the Falcons making 19 of 22 (86.4%) while the Muskies hit 11 of 20 (55.0%). Concordia also won the rebounding battle 43-35.

McDonald scored 23 points to lead Lakeland while Joshuan McNeal (Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) added 18 points and four blocked shots. Gryszkiewicz also added 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals and Eric Nygaard (Jr.-Plymouth, Wis.) finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Muskies are home again Saturday, hosting Aurora University at 4:15 p.m. at the Woltzen Gym. The game will be the second half of a men's/women's doubleheader, with the two schools' women's teams playing first at 2 p.m.