MARIETTA, Ga. — Ja'Ln Williams and Dmitry Utolin scored 17 points each to lead Lindsey Wilson men's basketball to a 73-72 win over Life (Ga.) in a Mid-South Conference matchup on Saturday at The Eagles' Nest.

William's came off the bench to make 4-of-5 field-goal attempts for a career-high 17 points. He also made a career-best 8-of-8 free-throw attempts. Utolin, who made 6-of-13 shots from the floor and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe, achieved double digits in points for the 20th time in 22 games played.

The Blue Raiders (15-8, 5-5 MSC) and the Running Eagles (13-8, 6-6 MSC) traded baskets throughout much of the first half and the score was 21-21 with 4:43 to go in the period.

Foul trouble plagued Lindsey Wilson late in the first half, and Life was in a bonus situation for the final 5:24 of the period. The Running Eagles, who converted on 10-of-14 free-throw attempts in the half, made five in the final minutes to stretch the lead to 29-22 with 1 minute to play.

The Blue Raiders clawed back in the final minute of the period with made field goals by Utolin and Williams. Williams also converted two free throws and Lindsey Wilson trailed 31-28 at halftime.

Both teams shot 34.48 percent in the half, but Life converted 10 Lindsey Wilson turnovers into 12 points, and nine offensive rebounds into eight second chance points in the first 20 minutes of play. The Blue Raiders' bench outscored the Running Eagles' reserves 10-6 in the first half and 23-6 for the game.

Williams led Lindsey Wilson in scoring with six points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from the free-throw line, while Allen Dantzler tallied 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting and 4-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe to pace Life in the first period of play.

In the second half, The Blue Raiders limited the Running Eagles' second chance opportunities, and despite being out-rebounded for the game (44-38), Lindsey Wilson earned a 22-18 advantage on the glass in the second half.

The Blue Raiders also shot a higher percentage in the second half and finished the game with a 42.3 percent shooting percentage while holding the Running Eagles to 38.46 percent from the floor.

Lindsey Wilson took advantage of these changes and took the lead when Bryan Wallace, who scored eight points in the game, made a two-point shot to make the score 36-35 with 15:34 remaining in the game.

The lead was stretched to as many as seven points twice with the final seven point advantage coming with the score 60-53 after two-made free throws by Utolin at the 4:26 mark.

The Eagles fought back with the help of made shots from Dantzler, who garnered 20 points and nine rebounds on the afternoon, and Chris Rhoney, who scored 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lead all scorers, to within one at 70-69 with 44 seconds remaining. The Running Eagles tied the game at 72-72 with 20 seconds remaining on a shot by Dantzler.

On the ensuing possession, with less than five seconds to go, Charles Sutton drove to the right and attempted a shot that missed, but he grabbed his own rebound and drew a foul to head to the free-throw line with only three seconds to play.

Sutton, who scored 10 points in the game, made the first free throw giving the Blue Raiders the 73-72 advantage. When he missed the second free throw, the Running Eagles grabbed the rebound and attempted to push the ball up the court, but were forced to attempt a half-court heave that missed its mark as time expired.

DJ Lambert was the fourth Blue Raider to score in double figures with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three-point range.

Pepper Ben Ofokile tied a career high with nine rebounds.

Lindsey Wilson's defense held Life's Dalarian Williams, who scored 24 points in the Blue Raiders' loss to the Running Eagles on Monday at Biggers Sports Center, to five points on 2-of-6 shooting.

The teams split their MSC regular-season games with each team winning on the road.

The Blue Raiders return to action on Thursday when No. 2 Georgetown (Ky.) comes to Biggers Sports Center for an MSC matchup tipping-off at 8 p.m. CT.