PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Kai Buliox (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) converted a three-point play with six seconds left to complete a furious and improbable comeback by the Lakeland University men's basketball team for an 81-79 victory over Illinois Institute of Technology Saturday at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies trailed by six points late but outscored the Scarlet Hawks 9-1 in the final 14 seconds for a stunning and much-needed win. Lakeland snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 10-8 overall and is now 4-7 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, and also gained a split with an Illinois Tech team that topped the Muskies by 27 points in the teams' meeting three weeks earlier.

A roller coaster of a game appeared set to end on a low note for the Muskies after their first lead of the second half had quickly disappeared, turning into a nine-point lead for Illinois Tech (9-11 overall, 7-5 NACC) with less than two minutes left. Lakeland still was down by six at 78-72 after Desmond Price made one of two free throws with 21 seconds to play, but Cam Jaeger (So.-Oostburg, Wis.) hit a three-pointer while being fouled with 14 seconds left.

Jaeger made the free throw for the four-point play, and after IIlinois Tech's Caden Gigstad split two foul shots with 12 seconds left, Asanjai Hunter (Fr.-Racine, Wis.) was fouled and hit two free throws with still nine seconds left. Lakeland then pressured the Scarlet Hawks' inbound pass in the backcourt, and Isaiah Hammond (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) deflected the ball off IIT's Derrick Faulkner, giving the Muskies possession with 8.8 seconds.

Hammond received the baseline inbounds pass and quickly hit a cutting Buliox, who took one hard dribble and scored for his first field goal of the game. He converted the free throw, and after a frontcourt timeout Illinois Tech's last three-point attempt by Garrison Carter was off target, preserving the win.

Lakeland showed resilience in bouncing back after a lightning-quick start to the game had evaporated into a halftime deficit as the team's struggles in its previous three games seemed to resurface.

The Muskies jumped on IIT to take a 16-point lead just over six minutes in. Jaeger hit a pair of three-pointers, Aiden Polzin (So.-Clintonville, Wis.) hit another and Hunter's three-point play with 13:58 left in the first half put Lakeland ahead 21-5.

The Scarlet Hawks responded with an 18-3 run to get within one, and tied the game at 27-27 on a layup by Carter with 5:30 left in the half. Tech would then close the half on an 8-0 run, with Carter and Bhuvanesh Rajagopal making three-pointers and Gigstad hitting a layup for a 40-32 lead.

The Muskies made just three field goals in the final 11:37 of the first half, and they would continue to battle shooting struggles in the second half. Lakeland still closed within three with 14:49 left after a three by Polzin, but Illinois Tech pushed the lead back out to 10 points and then 11 on a jumper by Price with 11:03 left.

The Muskies would scrap their way back into the game and tied it at 61-61 on two free throws by Hunter. Lakeland then took its first lead of the second half at 66-64 on a three-pointer by Jaeger with 5:14 left, but IIT would answer scoring the next 11 points and led 75-66 after a jumper by Price with 1:59 to play.

Lakeland won despite shooting just 37.5%, making 24 of 64 from the field. The Muskies hit 11 of 26 from three-point range (42.3%) and 22 of 28 free throws (78.6%).

Jaeger scored 27 points, igniting Lakeland with 21 points plus all five of his rebounds coming in the second half, and the sophomore guard bounced back after scoring six, seven and eight points in the Muskies' previous three contests. Polzin added 20 and Hunter scored 13 and added six rebounds and four assists.

Carter scored 21 points and Price added 19 off the bench to lead Illinois Tech, which shot 50.8% (30 of 59) and trailed for a total of 28 seconds in the second half.

The Muskies are back home Tuesday night to host Milwaukee School of Engineering at 7 p.m.