The Austin boys basketball team has struggled to close out games this season, so things weren’t looking ideal when they trailed Faribault 44-38 with 5:52 left in the game.

This time the Packers had an answer as they beat the Falcons 51-47 in Packer Gym on Hall of Fame night Friday.

Tate Hebrink and Nik Gasner hit back-to-back threes to tie the game and Gasner converted a drive for a lay-up that put the Packers up for good at 46-44 with 3:20 left. Faribault (7-10 overall, 4-10 Big Nine) pulled to within 47-46 with 2:59 left, but Kyle Oberbroeckling responded with a lay-up on a dish from Gach Gach to make it 49-46.

“We made some shots and we made some plays to get back in it,” Austin head coach Kris Fadness said. “We jacked up the defensive pressure a little bit and they turned it over. I’m happy with the comeback and we’ll take any win we can get right now.”

Austin missed two straight free throws on the front ends of one-and-ones down the stretch, but it forced two Falcon turnovers in the last minute of the game and 19 total Faribault turnovers on the night. Zach Coffey finally sealed the game with a breakaway lay-up.

Gasner caught fire at the right time for the Packers (9-9 overall, 8-6 Big Nine) as he scored eight of his 14 points in the last six minutes of the game.

“The whole game I felt pretty well shooting it, but I didn’t get that many shots,” Gasner said. “At the end I realized I needed to take some shots. I had some open looks and I was confident going up. Luckily I found it at the end.”

Gach lifted the Packers in the first half as he had eight of his 11 points in that frame. He turned a steal into a crossover dribble and a dunk to put Austin up 27-25 in the first half and he blocked a Faribault shot at the rim to preserve a 46-44 Austin lead late in the game.

Gach suffered a hip injury in Austin’s win over Winona Tuesday, but he wasn’t missing Friday’s game against Faribault, where Gach used to live.

“I didn’t want to sit out this game. They beat us the first time and I just wanted to crush them. That didn’t happen, but I’ll take the ‘W’ any day,” Gach said. “After I missed my first few shots of the second half and the defense was keying on me, I knew guys were going to be open so I moved the ball around. We’ve worked hard all year on finishing games and we finally did that.”

Hebrink, a freshman, gave the Packer offense life as he had nine points off of three 3-pointers.

“He’s such a good perimeter shooter that even his misses look like they’re going in,” Fadness said. “You have to guard him or you’re giving up three points. He opens up driving lanes for Nik and Zach.”

Hebrink and Both Gach, another freshman guard, have contributed a lot this season for the Packers. Gach said the success of the freshmen motivate him to play better and Gasner agreed.

“Tate’s dangerous out there,” Gasner said. “I feel like a mentor [to Both and Tate]. When I see them doing well out there it gets me a little jacked up and fired up to start doing the same thing as them.”

Austin will host Rochester Mayo Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Faribault 23 24 — 47

Austin 25 26 — 51

Austin scoring: Nik Gasner, 14; Gach Gach, 11; Tate Hebrink, 9; Zach Coffey, 5; Noah Brehmer, 4; Kyle Oberbroeckling, 4; Both Gach, 2; Levi Vierkandt, 2; free throws: 33 percent (2-for-6); rebounds: 20 (Gach, 6); turnovers: 14