A furious rally in the final minutes came up just short and Lakeland University saw its season end with a 79-76 loss to Milwaukee School of Engineering Tuesday night in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball Tournament first round.

The Muskies almost came all the way back from a 23-point deficit in the final ten minutes but a three-point attempt just before the buzzer hit the back of the rim and bounced off. Fifth-seeded MSOE escaped with the win to defeat Lakeland for the third time this season, and the Raiders advanced to a semifinal game at top seed Benedictine University Thursday night while Lakeland saw its season end with a 13-13 record.

The Muskies were down 23 with just over nine minutes left and still trailed by 18 points with just over six minutes left before catching fire late, finishing the game on a 23-8 run before running out of time.

Jequan Pegeese (Jr.-Beloit, Wis.) hit three three-pointers in the final 4:23 and Carlos Campos (Sr.-Janesville, Wis.) also scored nine points down the stretch. The senior's fast break dash and layup with four minutes left knocked the deficit down to ten points at 75-65, and Pegeese's three with 2:06 to play made it 75-68.

Matthew Kirmse scored a game-high 27 points for MSOE (14-12 overall), and his three-pointer with 1:39 left put the guests back up 78-68, but two free throws by Campos and another three from Pegeese made it 78-73 with over a minute left yet. Lakeland got even closer when the Raiders lost the ball in the backcourt and Trenton Nickel (Jr.-Kiel, Wis.) hit a three-pointer to make the score 78-76 with :16.5 left.

Josh Herzog of MSOE was fouled with 11 seconds left and made the first free throw but missed the second, giving the Muskies a chance to tie. Lakeland wound up with a great look from the left corner as the clock ticked down, but Pegeese's shot hit the inside of the back iron and bounced away as time expired.

The Raiders (14-12 overall) took control of the game out of halftime, outscoring the Muskies 27-6 over the first 10 1/2 minutes of the second half and taking a 64-41 lead. Including the final five minutes of the first half, MSOE went on a 41-10 run, turning the game around after a Lakeland first half surge that included a 17-2 run to take a 31-23 lead.

MSOE pounded the ball inside, scoring 48 points in the paint whether on drives, post ups or tip-ins. The Raiders also outrebounded the Muskies 50-37, including 18 offensive rebounds, and also forced Lakeland into 16 turnovers.

Lakeland started hot and was shooting better than 50% until missing seven of its final eight shots before halftime. The Muskies cooled way down, at one point dropping below 34% until making 11 of 16 down the stretch to finish shooting 44.1% (26 of 59).

Campos scored 25 points and with his four three-pointers finished his Lakeland career with 148 triples made, tying Aaron Regal (2004-08) for seventh on the school's all-time list for threes made. Pegeese added 18 points and Nickel scored 13 points and Tony White (Fr.-New Orleans, La.) also chipped in eight points and nine rebounds, almost all coming in the first half as he helped the Muskies build an early lead.

Kirmse also added nine rebounds and Michael Pitrof scored 14 points and added 11 rebounds plus five steals for the Raiders, who shot 42.1% (32 of 76).

The game was the final one for four Lakeland seniors, including Campos, Isaac Anderson (Linden, Mich.), Deonte Carlton (Green Bay, Wis.) and Sam Kaminski (Sheboygan, Wis.).