THE OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 79-82 Knox
• Venue: MBU Gymnasium
• Attendance: 265
• Record: Sabercats are now 6-3
• Next Game for MBU: Saturday, Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. at Martin Luther

THE LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- MBU brought the crowd to its feet with a heroic last-minute charge, but the Sabercats' efforts ended up just 3 points shy of a miraculous comeback tonight.

After putting up 7 points in a matter of seconds, the Sabercats almost erased a 19-point deficit that they faced in the second half, but MBU ultimately fell, 79-82.

THE STORY

The Prairie Fire came out with the hunger of a winless team. The Prairie Fire put up an early lead and stayed just out of reach of the Sabercats throughout the first half.

Knox proved to be on point from behind the arc, as they recorded more than half of their points downtown in the first half to take a 35-41 lead going into the second half.

Maranatha had 8 contributors to the scoring in the opening 20 minutes. It was a balanced offensive effort, and Justin Blake led MBU with 8 points.

In the second half, the Sabercats struggled being patient offensively. After numerous forced chances, the Sabercats found themselves with a 19-point mountain to climb with 8:30 on the clock.

The Sabercats slowly clawed their way back into the game, as they came back to within 10 points heading into the final minute.

It was then that the game changed entirely, as an RJ Medina steal and subsequent free throws got the rally started. On the next inbound pass, Jonathan Book picked the pass off and laid it in. 

On the very next play, Justin Blake grabbed a loose Prairie Fire distribution and dished it to Shepard, who knocked down the biggest 3-pointer of the game. In 7 short seconds, MBU put up 7 points to turn the game on its head.

The comeback ultimately fell short, however. After a layup from Knox, David Lerma hit a 3-pointer to make it a 1-possession game, but the Sabercats' final try to tie the game was just off the mark.

THE NUMBERS

Shepard led all scorers with 19 points. Four of the 5 MBU starters recorded double digit points.

Maranatha shot 50 percent from the floor.

Knox shot 52 percent from downtown and recorded 39 points from behind the arc.

Maranatha led just once - a 1-point advantage late on in the first half.

This was the first meeting between the two teams. 

THE CALENDAR

The Sabercats will take a few weeks off before returning to action after Christmas break. MBU will travel to Martin Luther College on Jan. 6 for a 5 p.m. tip-off. Catch the details at mbusabercats.com/composite.