APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team missed a long 3-pointer in the final seconds, and Wisconsin Lutheran College hung on for a 71-70 non-conference victory on Wednesday at Alexander Gymnasium.
Jake Jarnigo and Tanner Schieve scored 15 points apiece and Jim Marose added 14 to pace the Warriors (1-1).
Jamie Nikitas led Lawrence (1-1) and all scorers with 23 points, and he picked up five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Mitch Willer added 17 points and four rebounds for the Vikings, and Troy Miller chipped in with 10 points.
Wisconsin Lutheran had grabbed a 71-70 lead on Collin Kennedy’s putback with 13 seconds remaining.
Nikitas brought the ball up the floor for the Vikings but had it knocked away momentarily. He fought to get the ball back and was forced to shoot a 3-pointer from about 35 feet in the final seconds, but it caromed off the backboard and rim as time expired.
Lawrence looked like it might pull away early in the second half. Miller hit a 3-pointer less than a minute into the half to put the Vikings up 40-31.
The Vikings led by as many as 12 and went up 49-39 on Nikitas’ jumper with 14:11 left. Wisconsin Lutheran then went on a 17-2 run over the next seven minutes to take a 56-51 lead with 7:21 left.
The Vikings immediately countered and got a three-point play from Willer to tie the game at 56-56. The Warriors pulled out to a 67-62 lead, but Miller hit a 3-pointer and Nikitas followed with a layup to tie the game at 67-67 with 1:40 remaining.
Nikitas made one free throw to give Lawrence at 68-67 edge, but Chase Nowak’s jumper gave the Warriors a 69-68 lead. Willer countered with a layup off a nice feed from Nikitas to give the Vikings a 70-69 edge with 32 seconds left.
Jarnigo missed a jumper for the Warriors, but Kennedy collected the rebound and his putback with 13 seconds left was the difference.