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ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State Wolves got career-high efforts from sophomore Trent Zomer (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Geoffrey Firmin (15 points) and outscored the visiting University of Mary Marauders 41-31 in the second half, but were unable to overcome what was once a 14-point lead for the Marauders in a 69-70 loss Saturday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball action.
 
The loss, just the third at home for the Wolves and first since a Dec. 10 setback to Augustana, drops NSU to 10-7 overall and 6-7 in the loop with nine games remaining in regular season action.  The Marauders picked up their fourth victory of the year and moved to 4-13 overall and 3-10 in conference play.
 
U-Mary took advantage of NSU shooting troubles in the first half, pulling away from a 4-4 tie to go up 20-8 on back-to-back buckets from Lamada Williams, who had 12 points off the bench in the first half alone.  The Marauders, who shot the ball at a a 51.6 percent clip and held NSU to just 34.5 percent in the first half, rode that effort into the break holding an 11-point edge at 39-28.
 
U-Mary pushed the lead to 14 at the 17:17 mark when an Alex Dorr trey – his third of the half and fourth of the game – made it a 49-35 affair.
 
NSU then began to chip away at the deficit, using a 10-3 run to cut it to seven by the 14:52 mark and another 12-3 run to cut it to a single point at 58-57 with 8:01 left to play.
 
U-Mary clung to the lead for the next four minutes before Zomer stepped out to hit his second three-pointer of the night to tie things up at 65-all with 3:59 to go.
 
The two teams then traded the lead back and forth with the Marauders snagging a 68-67 edge with 2:48 to go on a Damon Smith bucket in the lane.  However, both teams went dark on the scoreboard for more than two minutes.  NSU misfired on four scoring attempts on three separate possessions while the Marauders turned the ball over once and missed two attempts from the free throw line.
 
U-Mary finally broke the drought on a pair of free throws from Smith with 28 seconds left.  The Wolves called a time-out to discuss strategy down by three and 25 seconds showing on the clock.  Firmin converted on a leaner in the lane with six seconds remaining.
 
NSU immediately fouled on the inbounds pass to send U-Mary's leading scorer Josh Turner to the line for a 1-and-1 opportunity.  Turner misfired on the first attempt, but the Marauders tapped out the long rebound, gathered it up and escaped any foul attempts by the Wolves to run out the clock and preserve the win.
 
Zomer's 19-point, 12-rebound effort marked his second double-double performance of the season.  Eight of his dozen boards came off the offensive glass.  He also had three steals on the defensive end for the Wolves.  Firmin turned in 15 points and five assists, while junior Dustin Tetzlaff also had 15 points and six rebounds for the Wolves.
 
U-Mary was led by Smith's 19 points and eight rebounds.  Williams and Door turned in a dozen apiece, while Turner was held to just ten points and was plagued by foul trouble throughout the night.
 
The Wolves will look to get back on track next weekend as they begin their second swing through NSIC play.  NSU will host Minnesota-Duluth and Bemidji State on Friday and Saturday, respectively, in re-match contests.  The Wolves fell to both squads on the road prior to the Christmas holiday.  Game time is set for 8 p.m. both nights.