Decorah, Iowa – The Crown men's basketball team got back to .500 on Saturday with a 75-70 win at Luther College.  The Storm took a one point advantage into the break and won by five in a game that featured 13 lead changes and eight ties.

The game was tight throughout, with Crown's largest lead being only six points and Luther only leading by four early on.  With neither team ever leading by more than two possessions, the game was decided by fine margins.  Crown was outshot 53.7% to 44.2%, but the Storm hit eight more threes and nine more free throws than their opponents to make up for it.  The Storm hit eleven shots from deep, led by five first half triples from Seth Royston and the team was a clutch 18-21 from the charity stripe.

Royston and Micah Ladd led the team with 17 points apiece, while the Storm got a huge lift from Cade Neubert who scored 14 off the bench including a 2-2 mark from behind the arc and perfect 6-6 shooting at the free throw line.  Ladd had seven assists and Cade Carroll led the team with nine rebounds. 

The host Norse didn't lead by more than two points at any point in the second half, but did lead by that one bucket margin with just 4:48 remaining.  Jacob Van Dam's third three point basket of the game gave the Storm a one point lead 19 seconds later and the Storm would hold the home team at arm's length the rest of the way.

During that final stretch, Crown got a tough floater from Ladd in the paint, a pair of free throws from both Royston and Carroll, and then finished things off with three Ladd free throws and a steal and layup from the sophomore captain with just 16 seconds remaining.  Seven of Ladd's 17 came in the final 3:31 of the game.  

The win pushes the Storm's record to 4-4 in non-conference play as Crown prepares for a trip to NCAA D1 St. Thomas on Thursday of next week and then a massive opening weekend of UMAC play on December 10^th and 11^th.