CHICAGO --- In a thrilling back-and-forth NCCAA North Regional matchup, the Sabercats ultimately fell 80-82 to the Archers of Moody Bible Institute despite 30 points from Micah Shepard. The lead changed 19 times in 40 minutes of action.

In the first half, neither team led by more than six points, as the early stages of the game forecasted the tight contest to come. The Sabercats sparked their offense from downtown, as four different players drained three-pointers in a five-minute span early on.

Turnovers got the better of the Sabercats late in the half, as they saw a five-point lead with three minutes left turn into a two-point Archer advantage going into the locker room. (42-43)

That late first-half charge was led by Moody's Trey Frank, who posted 43 points for the Archers in the game.

Despite losing their first-half momentum, the Sabercats soon restored their six-point lead in the second act when CJ Jones knocked down a three-point shot with 11 minutes to go. Jones' three seemed to kick the hosts into gear, however, and Moody answered with a 15-2 run over the following five minutes to take a seven-point advantage with six minutes on the clock.

The Sabercats' last lead came when Wagner nailed another shot from beyond the arc, but the Archers showed resolve to regain the lead, and a three-pointer from Frank with 45 seconds left made it a two-possession game with time winding down.

Late in the game, the Sabercats were just off the mark, as missed opportunities from the field marked the final two minutes of the contest. Clayton Morrison and Shepard both knocked down a pair of free throws to try to keep the Sabercats close, but the Archers did just enough from the line to keep the game out of reach in the dying minutes. (80-82)

"We are obviously disappointed with the result," said head coach Keith Salscheider after the game. "We played pretty well, but we were not following the game plan like we needed to. We've got to give Moody a lot of credit, but I was disappointed with our intensity and our effort - we've got to improve on those things to make a run at the National Tournament."

The Sabercats were accurate with the shooting, as they shot 56 percent from the field in the loss. Shepard was backed up by Wes Wagner (10 pts), Bryce Cashner (8 pts), and Zach Terpstra (8 pts).

The Sabercats' loss to the Archers was their 14th in the all-time series, which MBU leads 43-14 after tonight.

With the loss, the Sabercats fall to 4-11 on the year which includes a record of 2-2 in NCCAA play.

The Sabercats will play against Illinois Tech at home Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7:00 p.m. in an all-AD3I matchup. Watch the game live at mbusabercats.com/live.