PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Lawrence University cut an eight-point deficit to one in the final minute but the Lakeland University men's basketball team made just enough plays to hold on for a 76-73 win Saturday afternoon in a non-conference game at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies withstood the Vikings' late rally to win their second straight game this week and improve to 2-2 overall. Lakeland also won in its last game before beginning its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference schedule with a trip to face Rockford University Wednesday.

The Muskies led much of the way and fought off one rally by Lawrence (0-5 overall) late in the second half, just after the Vikings had tied the score at 65-65, the closest the game had been since midway through the first half. A 9-1 run was capped by Isaiah Hammond (Jr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) making two free throws with 2 minutes, 12 seconds left, putting Lakeland ahead 74-66 and in what appeared to be in good shape to close the game out.

Lawrence received a three-pointer from Hogan Demovsky and an offensive rebound and a putback by Adnan Sarancic to get within 74-71, and drew closer when R.J. Gamble hit two free throws to make it 74-73 with 32 seconds left. The Muskies then missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity, and the Vikings had two chances to take the lead in the final 15 seconds. The second came when Jake Fisher attempted a 16-footer with nine seconds left, but Cam Jaeger (Jr.-Oostburg, Wis.) grabbed the rebound, sank two free throws, and a final three-point attempt by Lawrence's Nicholas Gouriotis with two seconds left was off target.

Lakeland emerged from a back-and-forth first 10 minutes of the game to gain the upper hand late in the first half and through a good portion of the second half.

The Muskies took the lead for good with a 9-0 run midway through the first half capped by Asanjai Hunter (So.-Kenosha, Wis.) splitting two free throws for a 27-19 lead with 7:08 left in the half. Lakeland led by as much as 12 late in the first half and held a 41-31 halftime lead after a layup by Hunter to beat the first half buzzer.

The Vikings closed to within five early in the second half, but Lakeland back to 11 on a Hammond three-point play to make it 58-47 with 13:44 left. The Muskies were back up 10 after a three by Caleb Fuller (Sr.-Oshkosh, Wis.) for a 63-53 with 11:25 to play, but Lawrence went on a 12-2 run over the next four minute, tying it on a layup by Sarancic with 7:31 left.

Hunter finished with 19 points to lead Lakeland, leading a group of five in double figures scoring. Jaeger scored 16, Fuller added 12 and Hammond and Aiden Polzin (Jr.-Clintonville, Wis.) scored 11 points each.

The Muskies finished shooting 45.8% (27 of 59), including 57.1% (16 of 28) in the first half. Lakeland sat above 50% shooting for much of the game, until shooting percentages for both teams dropped in the late going, as officials largely swallowed the whistles and both teams upped the aggressiveness late.

Fisher finished with 19 points for Lawrence and Sarancic added 17 points plus a game-high 11 rebounds. The Vikings shot 43.8% for the game, making 28 of 64 shots.