Staff photo by Ari Selvey Martin Luther College’s Ben Pearson celebrates after a layup to send a nonconference men’s basketball game against Bethel University to overtime Saturday at MLC.

NEW ULM — With just 5.2 seconds to play in regulation of a nonconference men’s basketball game against Bethel University on Saturday, Martin Luther College’s Ben Pearson drove to the basket and made a game-tying layup as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime.

Pearson also made three of his four free throws and a layup in that overtime period to help give MLC a 88-83 win.

“I thought our team needed a big win today,” Pearson said. “And to be able to help and to get the win for our team today was huge.”

The Knights were down 8 with just over two minutes to play but stormed back to cut that lead to 1 after a pair of free throws by Pearson. Bethel’s Jay Neubert missed one of his two free throws on the other end after a foul, setting up Pearson for the game-tying shot.

“We set a play up so I was getting the ball off of a screen,” Pearson said. “I got the ball … I hit a little pump-fake at the 3, and he bought it. I drove and I was able to finish with my left hand on the right side to get us into OT.”

Pearson finished with 20 points on the game, but Adam Loberger had a game-high 33 points, along with seven rebounds. Loberger was efficient, shooting 58% from the floor, despite extra attention defensively from Bethel.

“It’s really just picking my spots and where to attack in our offense,” Loberger said. “Trust that my team will find me and keep the flow of the offense going.”

Loberger said the win was a big one as the Knights look to start conference play after the new year.

“It’s huge,” he said. “Start of the season, coming into the middle of the season, this is a big win. Looking forward to conference play, and that was a good team we played, so it’s nice to have a good win in our win column.”

Ethan Kjenstad added 11 points for the Knights.

The game was tight from wire to wire, with that 8-point Bethel lead late being the largest of the game. There were 14 lead changes and a tie game on 21 separate occasions, with neither team getting any breathing room.

“It just comes down to all of the team together and the chemistry that we have,” Loberger said. “Keeping each other locked in, and the five guys on the court and all the guys on the bench all staying together.”

Fouls and free throws also played a critical role in the game, with Bethel missing 11 shots from the charity stripe and MLC missing 10 as both teams shot under 65%. Bethel also had three players foul out by the end of the game, with leading-scorer Nick Burke fouling out just before Pearson’s game-tying shot, and Adam Mattes and Sam Gingras joining him late in the overtime period.

Bethel held a 21-18 lead early, but a 3-pointer from Kjenstad tied the game up. MLC went up 23-21 on a pair of free throws from Thomas Balge, then Balge made a bank shot as the shot clock expired to hold a 25-23 lead. Bethel regained the lead after an and-one and a transition layup from Gingras, and the teams went back and forth for the rest of the first half, with Bethel holding a 37-34 lead at halftime.

Loberger made a spinning layup to open up the second half, but the Knights continued to trail the Royals until Ben Vasold made a 3-pointer to tie the game at 48. MLC took the lead with an and-one by Loberger, then Loberger made another layup through a foul for a 53-50 lead. Bethel responded with a layup and a free throw from Jack Charbonnaeu, and the teams traded the lead back and forth for several minutes. A 3-pointer by Bethel’s Blake Schmidtz gave the Royals a 67-66 lead, then a layup by Burke extended the lead to 69-66 as Bethel took a timeout with 3:31 to go. Burke made a putback through a foul and made the free throw to make it a 72-66 game, then Gingras made a layup for a 74-66 lead.

“Just keep playing our ball,” Pearson said. “We’ve been practicing throughout the week to be ready for moments like that and to be able to overcome that deficit and to get into overtime an to get that win was awesome for our team.”

Kjenstad started the comeback with a layup and a long baseline floater to cut the lead to 74-70 as the Knights called a timeout with 1:37 to play. Luke Fix made a pair of free throws to make it a one-score game with 56.1 seconds to play, and Burke fouled out with 14.8 seconds to go as Kjenstad made a free throw for a 74-73 game. Charbonneau was sent to the line with 12.5 seconds and made both his free throws, then Pearson made both of his with 6.4 to play. Neubert went 1 for 2 with 5.2 seconds left in the game, and Pearson took it to the cup to tie it at 77 as time expired.

MLC got a big block from Fix that led to a driving layup for Loberger to put the Knights up 81-79, but the Royals countered with a pair of free throws by JT Schradle. Pearson made a driving layup, but Bethel again tied it with a layup from Gingras. Loberger was sent to the line, making both of his shots for an 85-83 lead, and Gingras fouled out with 33 seconds to play as Pearson made another free throw. Bethel turned it over with under 10 seconds to play as Pearson made another trip to the line, making both shots this time to seal the victory.

“We just played our game,” Pearson said. “Our team is very talented and capable of getting wins like tonight. To be able to see that is a great reward for us, and we’re truly blessed.”

MLC (5-7) hosts Carlton on Tuesday.

This story and additional pictures will be available in Tuesday’s edition of The Journal.