Trenton Nickel (Sr.-Kiel, Wis.) drilled a game-winning three-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining to give the Lakeland University men's basketball team an 86-85 win over Concordia University Wisconsin.

The Muskies bounced back from a loss to the Falcons the night before to gain a split of the teams' two-game Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opening series. Lakeland bounced back from a 101-87 loss to the defending NACC tourney champions Friday night to improve to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in conference.

Nickel's three for the win came from 22 feet out and just left of the circle. Trailing 85-83 with 9.8 seconds to go after a free throw by CUW's Jordan Johnson, Jequan Pegeese (Sr.-Beloit, Wis.) drove the length of the court to just inside the three-point line, then dropped it off back behind him to Nickel circling behind. The senior guard was able to take one dribble and had plenty of space to launch and make the game-winner.

In a back-and-forth affair that saw 16 lead changes, including four in the final 1:03, Nickel's shots was the final blow. The Muskies regained the lead at 81-80 after Pegeese scored with 51 seconds left, but Concordia (2-1 overall, 1-1 NACC) made two free throws, got a stop and Johnson hit two more free throws to make it 84-81 with 24 seconds left.

Lakeland's Cam Jaeger (Fr.-Oostburg, Wis.) sank two clutch free throws with 11 seconds left to keep the pressure on, and Johnson was fouled again just over a second later. He missed the first of two free throws, though, ensuring the Muskies would need just two to tie or three to win on their final possession.

While last night's game featured strong shooting from both sides, the Muskies and Falcons struggled to find a rhythm on offense for much of Saturday's game. Both teams finished shooting just over 40% with CUW at 40.3% (27 of 67) and Lakeland at 40.0% (28 of 70), but the hosts hit 13 of 30 from three-point range (43.3%).

Free throws were one of the deciding factors in the win, as Lakeland went a near-perfect 17 of 18 (94.4%) from the charity stripe, while CUW went 22-for-29 from the line (75.9%) overall and 5 of 7 in the final three minutes. The Falcons also committed 18 turnovers to the Muskies' 12, and Lakeland finished with a 20-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

After a close first half for the second straight night, Lakeland changed the script from Friday night and got off to a hot start in the second half, scoring the first seven points out of the break to take a 42-37 lead. The Muskies built their lead to as much as seven points with a 50-43 lead at the 15:40 mark but couldn't put away CUW. After taking a 64-61 lead with 8:31 left in the game by Joey Zietlow, the Falcons held the lead until a three-pointer from Aiden Polzin (Fr.-Clintonville, Wis.) gave the Muskies a 72-70 lead with 4:18 left.

Polzin was the Muskies' leading scorer for the second game in the young season, finishing with 23 points on 6 of 9 shooting from the field, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. After leading the team in scoring last night, Jaeger had another strong game, scoring 17 points with 7 of 7 shooting from the free throw line. Polzin, Jaeger, Nickel, and Tylan Huff (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) tied for the team lead with six rebounds each. Pegeese dished out a team-high six assists.

Just one night after combining for 71 points, the Muskie defense held the high-scoring trio of Johnson, Zietlow, and Jared Jurss to 56 points on largely subpar shooting numbers. Zietlow scored 25 points, but Johnson's 24 points plus 12 rebounds came on 7 of 18 shooting from the field, including an 0-for-6 mark from three-point range. Jurss also was held to seven points on 2 of 11 shooting plus six assists, half his total from the night before.

The men's basketball team returns to the Moose and Dona Woltzen Gymnasium next weekend for a two-game series with the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders. The first game on Friday, Feb. 5, starts at 7 p.m., while tip off for Saturday, Feb.  6, is scheduled for 5 p.m.