WATERTOWN, Wis. --- Micah Shepard embodied the Sabercats' persistence in their patchup against Wisconsin Lutheran College, and MBU almost pulled off the upset, falling 71-75 to the Warriors after 40 minutes of thrilling basketball. Shepard knocked down six three's and contributed 32 points on the night, but the Sabercats' effort came up just short in the end.

Quick Facts

• Result: Sabercats 71-75 Warriors
• Location: Maranatha Baptist University
• Attendance: 312
• Sabercats: now 4-9, Warriors: now 9-8

How it Happened

The Sabercats matched the Warriors throughout the first half thanks to committed defense and a precise attack. MBU shot 48 percent from the field and boasted a deep squad off the bench led by nine points from Bryce Cashner, who made all four of his looks.

With four minutes left, a series of attention-grabbing moments came when Richard Medina drove for a two-handed dunk, then a three-pointer from Bryce Cashner was followed by a deceptive pass from Zach Terpstra to Matt Gill, whose easy layup gave the Sabercats momentum in the dying minutes of the first half.

Despite the precision on offense, the Sabercats had trouble avoiding foul trouble, as they sent the Warriors to the line for 21 shots. WLC capitalized on 17 of those chances to hold a five-point lead entering the locker room. (31-36)

The Warriors maintained that slim lead throughout the opening minutes of the second half, but a pair of Micah Shepard shots from downtown kept the Sabercats within striking distance. The Warriors continued to take their chances and denied MBU the lead.

Shepard tied the game with a three with just under 10 minutes left. The bucket was one of six three's for the Little Rock native in the second half.

Down the stretch, the Sabercats tested the Warriors, who continued to execute under pressure to maintain their edge. Shepard once again connected with a deep three with just under two minutes left to make it 62-67, and the Sabercats' persistence nearly paid off. Baskets from Shepard and Zach Terpstra made it a one-possession game entering an action-packed final minute, where Shepard made things difficult for the Warriors.

The Little Rock native drove the lane with 33 seconds on the clock to make it 66-70, and after four free throws from WLC over the next 20 seconds seemingly put the game out of reach, Shepard knocked down a three from out of the blue to make it 71-74 with five seconds on the clock. After the Sabercats fouled Christian Kennedy, he knocked down one of his tries from the charity stripe to put the game out of reach of a noteworthy MBU effort. (71-75)

Coach's Corner

Assistant coach Joel Borchardt stated, "Congratulations to Coach Noon and his team - he has a great coaching staff and has his team playing really well. I thought we played a really good ballgame tonight and did a lot of things well as a team. We are excited to see improvement from our guys, and hope it continues throughout the rest of the season. We didn't play well enough to win the ballgame, but we are playing well together and producing as a team and that was evident tonight. We hope the improvement starts paying off in results for the rest of the season."

Up Next

The Sabercats will return to action Tuesday, Jan. 24 to face the Dominican University Stars at 7:00 p.m. On the MBU campus.

You can watch that game live at mbusabercats.com/live​