2014-15 Stories of the Year (No. 1): Men's Basketball wins NACC Tournament
MEQUON, Wis. - The 2014-15 athletic year was another successful one for Concordia University Wisconsin. The Falcons had a multitude of wins, memorable moments and impressive performances en route to more championships and awards. The CUW Athletic Communications Department again tries to sort through all the great moments and give you, the fans, the top five stories from the year, as well as an honorable mention story.
The list of stories was compiled by both the Athletic Communications Department and a committee of coaches, and like all lists is subject to debate. The list of top stories has been revealed over the last six weeks, this week being the final week and the year's top story.
No. 1 Story of the Year
The Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Basketball team entered the NACC Tournament, which began February 21, knowing it would likely have to win a pair of games on the road to achieve its goal of reaching the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament.
The Falcons entered the league tournament as the No. 3 seed and easily dispatched No. 6 MSOE in the opening round, setting up a semifinal date with the No. 2 seed, Benedictine. There, the Falcons gained a 76-70 victory behind 20 points from point guard Eric Kittel (Brillion, Wis.) to advance to the league championship against top-seeded Aurora.
CUW fell against the Spartans in each of its regular-season meetings, 85-71 on November 29 at Aurora, and 77-74 in a home game on December 20. The Falcons would make sure they wouldn't drop a third game against the Spartans, winning a thrilling 73-71 contest thanks to a game-winning layup from Mark Scholz (Greenfield, Wis.) with 29 seconds remaining.
From there the CUW defense would hold strong as Aurora had two potential chances to either tie or win the game, but two missed shots over the final six seconds allowed the Falcons to advance to their first NCAA Tournament since the 2010-11 season.
In the NCAA Tournament, CUW faced a tough draw, visiting eventual national champion, UW-Stevens Point in the opening round. Still, the experience of the NACC Tournament, along with playing in the opening round of the NCAAs was a valuable one for a Falcons team that returns a lot of key pieces in 2015-16.
The Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Basketball team had a memorable season in 2014-15. They won the NACC Tournament, finished with 19 wins, advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and now have received the top story of the 2014-15 athletics season for Concordia University Wisconsin.