PLYMOUTH, Wis. – A 19-5 run in the second half turned the game around for the Lakeland University men's basketball team, which came back from a seven-point deficit to defeat Lawrence University 78-74 Friday evening in a non-conference game at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies rallied to take the lead for good midway through the second half and then held on after the Vikings put together a rally of their own late. Lakeland prevailed to win its second straight game and improve to 6-4 overall on the season.

The Muskies appeared in danger of losing contact with the visitors early in the second half. Lawrence (4-6 overall) took its largest lead of the game at 52-45 when Brad Sendell made two free throws with 14:36 left in the half, extending the Vikings' run at the time to 15-5 over the previous 3 minutes, 8 seconds.

Lakeland would heat up from there, though, scoring on eight of its next nine trips down the court while Lawrence missed six of its next seven shots. Greg Barber (Sr.-Miami, Fla.) and Aiden Polzin (So.-Clintonville, Wis.) made two three-pointers each, and a basket inside by Isaiah Hammond (Fr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) gave the Muskies their own seven-point lead at 64-57 with 8:55 left in the game.

Lakeland would extend its lead to eight on two occasions, the last time when Barber scored on a layup to make it 73-65 with 4:54 left. The Vikings have one more run in them, scoring seven straight points capped by a three by Matthew Kaznikov making it 73-72 with 2:08 to play. The teams traded baskets, but after Sendell's layup with 1:37 left, Lawrence did not score again. The Muskies closed the game out making three free throws in the final 16 seconds, including a pair by Cam Jaeger (So.-Oostburg, Wis.) to make it 77-74 and another by Kai Buliox (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) with six seconds left to close it out.

Lawrence finished outshooting the Lakeland and also outrebounded the Muskies 45-31, but turnovers proved to be the difference. Lakeland committed just five turnovers while the Vikings lost the ball 13 times, including a pair of critical turnovers in the final 45 seconds.

The game included 14 lead changes and six ties, including a 35-35 tie at halftime. The Muskies led by as much as seven at 33-26 late in the first half before Lawrence closed on a 9-2 run with Kyle Lillwitz hitting three straight three-pointers to tie the game.

Polzin finished with 20 points to lead Lakeland, making 4 of 8 from three-point range. Buliox also added 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting and added five rebounds, including a big offensive board with 19 seconds left and the Muskies  holding onto a one-point lead. Jaeger also finished with 13 points.

Lakeland finished shooting 43.8%, hitting 28 of 64 shots, including 11 of 24 from three-point range. The Muskies shot 55.2% (16 of 29) in the second half, though, and were at 68.4% (13 of 19) with seven minutes left in the game before cooling down late.

Lawrence shot 46.2% (30 of 65) for the game and was led by Adnan Sarancic with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Sendell added 19 points and Lillwitz scored 15 points off the bench.

Lakeland is back on the court tomorrow when it hosts the University of Northwestern (Minn.) at 3:15 p.m. at the Woltzen Gymnasium.