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Central Missouri ended the game on a 7-2 run and Seth Bachand's layup with two second left was blocked as Northern State opened the regular season with a 66-65 loss to the regional opponent.

In what was a close, back-and-forth affair from the start, Northern found itself in the lead 63-59 with 2:51 to go in the game with the Mules. After a UCM three-pointer cut the lead down to 63-62, Bachand scored Northern's final basket with 1:36 to go to put the Wolves up 65-62. A Daylen Robinson layup cut the lead to 65-64 and with 36 seconds remaining, Preston Brunz's corner jumper pushed UCM into the lead to stay.

Bachand led Northern with 16 points in the loss. Bachand went 5-for-12 from the floor and hit six of his eight free-throws attempts. Bachand also pulled down five rebounds. Trent Zomer had a great game off the bench for NSU. Zomer chipped in with 13 points and also had a team-high seven rebounds in the game.

Mack Arvidson added seven points and Tydan Storrusten added six points and two assists. Freshman Carter Evans had four points, four boards and three blocks in his debut in just 11 minutes of action before going out with an ankle injury.

The two teams were relatively even all game as Northern shot 44.4 percent from the field and UCM hit 44.3 percent of its shots. Neither team shot the ball from the charity stripe particularly well. Northern went 15-for-23 (65 percent) from the line while the Mules were 7-for-14.

Central hit three more three-pointers than NSU did and also committed four fewer turnovers. The Mules held a 14-9 advantage on points off of turnovers and also outscored Northern 40-34 in the paint. NSU had a 17-7 edge in second-chance points and also got a big boost from its bench as the Wolves bench scored 34 points.

Northern will play its second game of the Sanford Tip-Off Classic Sunday as the Wolves will play Missouri Western in a 2 p.m. tip.