Benedictine University's Cade Ellingson converted a three-point play with 21 seconds left in the game and the Lakeland University men's basketball team came up just short of knocking off a ranked team in a 73-70 loss Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies pushed the Eagles team ranked 24th in the D3hoops.com NCAA Division III top 25 poll but dropped their second straight game and slipped to 11-12 overall and 9-9 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland remained in a tie for fourth in the conference standings, though, as both Milwaukee School of Engineering and Rockford University lost Saturday, leaving all three at 9-9 in the NACC with two games to play.

The Muskies and Eagles (19-4 overall, 15-3 NACC) both rallied from sizeable deficits in the second half, setting the stage for a tense finish where the teams traded the lead four times in the final 2 minutes, 42 seconds.

Lakeland had taken a 70-68 lead with 1:29 left on a layup by Trenton Nickel (Jr.-Kiel, Wis.), and the Eagles missed three shots on their next possession, giving the Muskies a chance to go ahead by two possessions in the final minute. Benedictine got the stop, though, and tied the game when Ellingson caught a pass under the hoop, turned and scored while being fouled.

Ellingson made the free throw to put Benedictine up by a point, but Lakeland had a chance for the go-ahead basket. A set play got Carlos Campos (Sr.-Janesville, Wis.) an attempt going to the basket, but his shot with nine seconds left was contested and rolled off, the Eagles grabbed the rebound and ran the clock all the way down to :00.5 before the Muskies could foul. Kenny Bogus made two free throws for Benedictine, and Lakeland was unable to get off a final shot.

The second half saw both teams make charges from deficits. Lakeland was down nine early in the second half before a five-minute surge turned the game around. The Muskies went on a 20-4 run, and a three-pointer by Isaac Anderson (Sr.-Linden, Wis.) gave Lakeland a 55-48 lead with 11:57 to play.

Benedictine responded with a prolonged run of its own, holding the Muskies to five points in a 17-5 run over a span of more than eight minutes. The Eagles stretch back out to a 65-60 on a layup by Bogus with 5:29 left, but then went cold and Lakeland scored the next six points, taking the lead back at 66-65 on a fast break lay-in by Eric Jordan (Fr.-Chicago, Ill.) with 2:42 left.

Benedictine shot 53.8% (14 of 26) in the first half in taking a 37-31 halftime lead, but the Eagles shot 34.3% in the second half (12 of 35). Lakeland went the opposite way, shooting 30.3% (10 of 33) in a cold first half before warming up to 46.4% (13 of 28) in the second half and finishing at 37.7% for the game (23 of 61).

Nickel finished with 13 points plus eight rebounds, Campos scored 12 and Anderson and Zach Hasenstein (Jr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) added 10 points each. Tony White (Fr.-New Orleans, La.) also added eight points and nine rebounds.

Ellingson scored a game-high 20 points off the bench for the Eagles, who finished shooting 42.6% (26 of 61). Eric Grygo also added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Bogus finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots.

The game was the final regular season contest at home for four Lakeland seniors, including Anderson, Campos, Deonte Carlton (Green Bay, Wis.) and Sam Kaminski (Sheboygan, Wis.).

The Muskies remain in the running for a spot in the NACC Tournament and a possible first round home game. Lakeland next faces one of the teams it is battling in the standings when it travels to take on Rockford Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Rockford, Ill.