HANCOCK, MI - The Bay College Norse (20-7) would stumble for just the second time in three months, dropping a 57-49 decision to the Finlandia University Lions (7-17) on Monday night.
Bay College would struggle from the field in the first half, hitting just 21.9% of their shots and missing on all ten attempts from behind the three-point arc. It would allow Finlandia to jump out to 12-2 lead in the early going, but the Norse would fight back and trail by just five at the end of the first quarter.
The Bay offensive struggles would allow the Lions to build their biggest lead of the game in the second quarter. With just under two minutes played in the second quarter, the host team would hold an 11 point lead. Despite the poor shooting performance by the Norse, Finlandia was not able to take control of the game. With a nine point lead and just over two minutes to play in the half, the Lions would not hit another basket from the field before the break. It would allow the visitors to go on a 6-2 run to end the half, and Bay College would trail by a score of 24-19 at the half.
Finlandia would take the first advantage of the second half, but the Norse would answer. A 7-0 Bay College stretch would tie the game at 30 midway through the third quarter, and would be the first time in the matchup since the opening tip that the Lions were not in the lead. While the Norse were never able to take the lead, they would trail by just four going into the fourth quarter.
Offensive woes would doom the Norse in the fourth, as they would open the quarter with just one basket in over five minutes of play. It would allow the Lions to build a lead, and with 4:30 seconds remaining the score stood at 45-37 in favor of the home team. Once again it was up to Bay College to fight back, and they would close the game to just three points with just under two minutes to play. Unfortunately for the Norse the storyline would not change, as they would once again go cold. They would hit one more shot from the field, but at that point the game was decided, as the Norse would fall in their regular season finale by eight points.
While Bay College would improve their shooting in the second half, they would still not be able to connect from deep, missing all 16 of their attempts from three-point. The Norse would also leave points on the free throw line, hitting just 13 of 23 attempts from the charity stripe. Finlandia would outrebound their opponents 43-22 in the matchup.
Keisha Davis (FR, St. Ignace, MI) would lead the Norse with 18 points and five rebounds off the bench. Bay would finish the game shooting 32.1% overall.
The Lions would get 18 points and ten rebounds from Katie Lundeen (FR, Maple, WI). Mariah Austin (FR, Negaunee, MI) would add nine points and eight rebounds.
The Norse end their regular season campaign with twenty wins and seven losses. They now look forward to the NJCAA Region XIII Semifinal game on Wednesday, February 27. They will host Gogebic Community College at 6 pm that evening.