Just when Mankato East was making it’s final push, the Packers found one more answer in a night of momentum shifts to beat the Cougars 63-52 in Packer Gym on Hall of Fame Induction night Friday.

Austin (9-2 overall, 6-1 Big Nine) led 55-44 with 4:28 left in the game, but the Cougars (2-8 overall) took advantage of three Austin turnovers in the last two minutes to pull within 58-52 with 1:36 left in the game.

East missed two baseline three-pointers that would’ve made it a one possession game before Austin’s Connor Gunderson took an in-bounds pass and went up strong for a lay-up that turned into a three-point play after he was fouled to give the Packers nine-point lead with 42 seconds left in the game.

Gunderson, who also had eight rebounds and three assists, was hitting from all angles as he scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half.

“I knew we needed to get going so I thought I had to step up and shoot and see if they’re going in. They were,” Gunderson said. “Everybody’s screening well and everybody else is giving me good passes. You can’t complain about that.”

East’s late run was not the only one they made throughout the night — the Cougars were within 55-49 after Alex Welter hit a trey and came up with a steal that led to a lay-up in a span of 20 seconds.

Austin’s Nate Justice responded with a three from the wing to put the Packers up 58-49 with 3:36 left.

“That was probably the biggest shot of the game when Nate hit that three,” Austin head coach Kris Fadness said.

Although there were just three lead changes on the night (all in the first half), Austin was never able to completely run away with the win.

“It was frustrating at half-time because we had those runs,” Fadness said. “We were up 22-12 and you thought ‘boy we could just put the hammer down and go.’ Then they’re up 23-22. Then we gave them the last four points of the half.”

The biggest culprit was 18 turnovers by the Packers.

“We had some stupid turnovers, we can’t do that,” said Austin guard T.J. Fritz, who had five points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. “We’re just moving too fast. So far it’s been a little shaky, but if we keep on getting better the wins will keep coming.”

Early on passing was a strength for the Packers as they had assists on nine of their first 10 field goals. Five of those field goals were lay-ups as a result of the Packer offense.

“With the offense this year, the cuts are right in the middle and it’s easy shots. That’s what it’s all about.” Fritz said. “Last year we were all perimeter. It’s a lot easier to get assists on five-foot shots instead of 20-footers.”

Fadness said that most of his team’s mistakes came in the open court, when they got ahead of themselves.

“I thought T.J. did a nice job of pushing the tempo. There are times were we need to recognize when it’s there and when it’s not there,” he said.

On defense, Austin had trouble containing East’s Sam Onsomu for most of the night. Onsomu had 24 points and 10 rebounds, but he was shutout for the last nine minutes.

“On our zone, we couldn’t get to the lob fast enough,” Connor Gunderson said. “We just looked to cut off the entry pass (in the second half).”

The Packers hit seven-of-11 three-pointers as Gunderson hit four from behind the arc.

“On a night were we did a lot of things wrong, we did shoot well and we’re happy to get a win,” Fadness said.

At halftime, Andy Bulson, Ann Bartholomey-Dublin, Kevin Eckmann, Kristin Leighton Hines, Paul Lenoch, Daryl Richardson, and Roger Voss were all inducted into the Austin High School Hall of Fame.

Mankato East 32 20 — 52

Austin 34 29 — 63

Austin scoring: Connor Gunderson, 30; Marcus Gunderson, 10; Chris Jahr, 9; T.J. Fritz, 5; Nate Justice, 3; Steven Rizzi, 3; Will Felten, 2; Jamaal Gibson, 1; field goals: 50 percent (23-for-46); three-pointers: 64 percent (64 percent); free throws: 56 percent (10-for-18); rebounds: 28 (Connor Gunderson, 8); turnovers: 18

Mankato East: Sam Onsomu, 24; Alex Welter, 11; Jordan Benesh, 7; Dustin Lemke, 6; Ken King, 4; field goals: 37 percent (19-for-52); 23 percent (5-for-22); free throws: 82 percent (9-for-11); rebounds: 21 (Onsomu, 10); turnovers: 20