ASHLAND, Wis. – Another game going down to the wire went against the Lakeland University men's basketball team this time as the Muskies were edged by Northland College 78-77 Tuesday night in a non-conference game.

Lakeland went without a field goal for the game's final 3 minutes, 51 seconds, including missing a potential game-winning three-point try at the buzzer. The homestanding LumberJacks came back from a four-point deficit in the game's final minutes and dropped the Muskies to 7-4 overall this season.

As it has been many times this season, Lakeland was involved in another evenly matched back-and-forth game where neither team could shake the other. The Muskies and LumberJacks swapped the lead 14 times and were tied on five other occasions, and neither team led by more than five points over the final 14 minutes.

Lakeland held the largest lead of the game at nine earl in the second half, but Northland (4-6 overall) came back with a 20-6 run to take a 67-62 lead with 8:23 remaining. The Muskies answered, though, and led 75-71 after a layup by Carlos Campos (So.-Janesville, Wis.) with 3:52 to play.

Harrison Lucas scored a game-high 27 points for Northland, and he gave the Jacks the lead back with a basket inside making it 76-75 with 1:38 left. He then added a pair of free throws to push the lead to three with 39 seconds left, but Pat McDonald (Jr.-Port Washington, Wis.) made two foul shots to get Lakeland back within one with 22 seconds to play.

The Muskies fouled Northland with 10 seconds left and Matt Zorn missed the front end of a one-and-one. Lakeland rebounded to get a final possession, and after two fouls intentionally given by Northland and a Muskies timeout, a three-pointer by Joshuan McNeal (Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) with three seconds left was off target.

Eric Nygaard (Jr.-Plymouth, Wis.) scored 22 points off the bench to lead Lakeland, hitting 6 of 7 from three-point range, including 4 of 4 in the first half. Campos also scored 17 and added nine rebounds and McNeal chipped in 14 points plus eight boards.

The Muskies shot 41.2% from the field, making 28 of 68 field goals, including 13 of 34 from three-point range (38.2%). Lakeland also out-rebounded Northland 42-37 but was at a disadvantage in turnovers and at the free-throw line. The LumberJacks committed just five turnovers to the Muskies' 11, and Northland also attempted eight more free throws, making 13 of 16 foul shots to Lakeland's 8-for-8 showing.

Lucas hit 10 of 13 from the field, 6 of 7 from the line and also added seven rebounds to lead Northland, which outscored the Muskies 40-18 in the paint. The Jacks shot 44.8% from the floor, hitting 30 of 67 field goals.

Lakeland is now idle until after Christmas, with 11 days off until facing Edgewood College on the road Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. in Madison.