RIVER FOREST, Ill. — Jamie Nikitas posted a double-double, and the Lawrence University men’s basketball team edged Dominican (Ill.) University 74-72 in a non-conference game Saturday.
Dominican missed a pair of shots, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it, in the final six seconds.
Nikitas scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down a team-best 11 rebounds for the Vikings, who defeated Dominican in the season opener for the second consecutive year. Nikitas also added four assists and a pair of steals.
Jeremy Stephani added 17 points and hit five 3-pointers for the Vikings, and Mitch Willer had 15 points.
Tim Robertson scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for the Stars.
Lawrence trailed 8-7 early, but the Vikings went on a 24-10 run to grab a 31-18 lead with 4:51 left in the first half. Stephani, Troy Miller, Pete Winslow and Connor Weas all hit 3-pointers during that stretch for the Vikings.
The Vikings would go on to lead 39-27 at the half, but Dominican quickly trimmed the margin to 43-40 early in the second half.
Dominican would take its biggest lead at 57-54, but the Vikings would take the lead back for good on Nikitas’ layup with 7:46 left. It was a tight margin the rest of the way, and Lawrence led 70-66 on Nikitas’ layup with 2:59 left.
Dominican scored the next four points to tie it at 70-70 with 58 seconds left, but Stephani buried a 3-pointer for a 73-70 lead with 38 ticks remaining.
The teams traded free throws, and Lawrence still led by two when Josh Mayberry missed a driving layup with six seconds left. Stephani grabbed the rebound but stepped out of bounds in the corner with 1.9 left. Quinn Pokora took the inbounds pass and fired a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and he missed as time expired.