North Country’s Kabryn Allen surges past three Herkimer defenders to bank in a layup during the second half of Wednesday’s game in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

SARANAC LAKE — Players on the North Country Community College men’s basketball team couldn’t have came through with a much better effort on defense when they took on Herkimer at home on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, the Saints came up just short at the other end of the court as the nationally ranked Generals eked out a 57-54 victory in a defensive battle at the Sparks Athletic Complex in Saranac Lake.

The loss was North Country’s second close setback against Herkimer in three days. On Monday, the Generals got past the Saints 76-69 in the first Region III meeting between the teams this season in Herkimer.

“It wasn’t a pretty game for college basketball, but I thought both teams competed on the defensive end,” Saints head coach Daryl Crist said. “I thought our kids battled. We were ahead both halves. They just got the lead late and managed the clock a little bit.”

Hoping to gain some revenge, the Saints led 27-25 at halftime and then pushed their edge to 37-29 during the opening minutes of the second half. Herkimer answered with a 16-0 run to grab an eight-point lead, and North Country battled back to go on top 46-45 when Vondell Livingston banked in a layup with 4:20 left in the game.

But down the stretch, the Generals generated just enough offense and sank four free throws during the final 20 seconds of the contest to claim the win and improve to 12-5 overall. The key basket for the Generals was a long three-pointer by Shykell Brown that broke a 50-50 deadlock with 1:50 remaining in the game. A tip in by freshman LeShaun Smith Jr. with 26 seconds left on the clock cut the Saints’ deficit to 53-52, but Herkimer’s 4-for-4 performance at the foul line the rest of the way proved to be the difference.

Trailing 55-52, North Country came up short on a tying basket when Tarique Foggie’s three-point attempt bounced off the rim. Livingston grabbed the rebound and banked it home to make it a 55-54 score with 2.7 seconds left. The Saints then fouled Brown, and the freshman guard converted both attempts to seal the deal.

Brown paced the Generals with a game-high 24 points. The freshman from Rochester’s Bishop Kearney High School drained four three-pointers and hit all four of his free throw attempts. Dante Griffin added 14 points for the winners.

Carol Davis, a freshman from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, led the Saints with 12 points. Livingston and Smith Jr. also tossed in 10 point each for the Saints, who dropped to 8-6 overall.

Despite the loss, Crist was pleased with his team’s effort on a that saw the Saints hold the Generals to their lowest point total of the season.

“If we play that hard with that defensive effort, we’ll be fine going down the stretch,” Crist said. “This is the meat of our schedule. We play the number three team in the country Saturday. We just have to keep learning, we have a lot freshman, we just have to keep getting better individually and as a team. We’re pretty good offensively but today, I think both teams were locked in on the defensive end.

“Our kids are tough. They’re not going to back down,” Crist added. “It’s a good learning lesson for us being young that we can stick together and fight through adversity. Get on to the next play is what we’re trying to teach constantly. We’re good as a group going forward in our region if we can continue to play that hard. I told the kids it was a great game. I thought they did an excellent job and we played well enough to win.”

The Saints are back at home Saturday to host Mohawk Valley Community College with the opening tipoff slated for 3 p.m.