PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Cam Jaeger (So.-Oostburg, Wis.) hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 29 seconds left and the Lakeland University men's basketball team topped one of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference leaders at home for the second straight game, edging Wisconsin Lutheran College 77-75 Wednesday night.

The Muskies snapped a five-game losing streak to the Warriors, topping a team that came into the night in second place in the NACC and one-half game out of the conference lead. Lakeland improved to 5-5 in the conference and also moved to 9-8 overall on the season.

The Muskies took the final lead in a game that featured 14 lead changes and nine ties. Nine of the lead changes came in the final five minutes, when neither team led by more than two points.

Wisconsin Lutheran (12-4 overall, 7-3 NACC) had just taken a two-point lead at 75-73 after Alex VanCrete converted a three-point play with 39 seconds left when Jaeger brought the ball up the court. He would start to drive, got his defender off balance after a screen by Greg Barber (Sr.-Miami, Fla.) and pulled up to hit a three to give the Muskies a 76-75 lead.

The Warriors came down and had two opportunities, but VanCrete missed a three and Grayson Goetz was tied up by Barber while trying to drive to the hoop with 4.9 seconds left. The possession arrow pointed Lakeland's way, and the Muskies' Tylan Huff (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) was fouled with 2.9 seconds left. Huff missed the first free throw but made the second for a two-point lead. WLC had a final chance after timeouts by each team and a full-court pass by Drew Bernhagen was caught by VanCrete near the hoop, but he lost his balance going down and lost the ball, with Barber grabbing the loose ball as time expired.

The second half saw swings of momentum both ways, first with Lakeland building the biggest lead of the game at 49-34 with 16:08 left after a short turnaround by Jaeger in the paint. Wisconsin Lutheran would come back with a 19-5 run to get within a point, and the guests would take their first lead of the second half at 60-59 on a layup by Ryan Zuleger with 6:48 to play.

Lutheran would push the lead to 64-59 before the Muskies came back with six straight points by Jequan Pegeese (Sr.-Beloit, Wis.), the last giving Lakeland a 65-64 lead with 4:45 left. The teams then would trade the lead back-and-forth down the stretch with three ties to go with the nine lead changes in the final minutes.

A rapid-but-ragged first half saw both teams get up and down the court quickly but with little show for their activity most of the way. The Muskies finished the half outscoring the Warriors 13-3 over the final three minutes, though, with Aiden Polzin (So.-Clintonville, Wis.) hitting a three-pointer with 19 seconds left for the biggest lead of the half of 38-27 that would hold into halftime.

Pegeese scored a game-high 21 points, including 16 in the second half, and Jaeger added 20 points. Polzin also scored 11 off the bench. The Muskies finished shooting 40.3% (25 of 62), including 6 of 23 on three-point tries (26.1%). The free throw line was the difference, though, as Lakeland shot 26 foul shots, 11 more than WLC, and made 21 (80.8%). The Muskies also outrebounded the Warriors 42-38.

VanCrete and Bernhagen both scored 15 points each for Wisconsin Lutheran, which shot 42.4% (28 of 66), including 55.2% (16 of 29) in the second half.

Lakeland goes on the road for its next game Saturday when it travels to face Illinois Institute of Technology, looking for a season sweep of the Scarlet Hawks. Game time is 4:15 p.m. in Chicago.