UW-River Falls shoots past Men's Basketball in non-conference road tilt

RIVER FALLS, Wis. – Four Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Basketball players scored in double-figures Saturday afternoon in a non-conference road matchup at UW-River Falls. Unfortunately the Falcons struggled stopping UWRF, falling 90-74 in the contest at the Karges Center.

After taking a six-point lead into the break, UWRF controlled the second half, leading by double digits for much of the final 20 minutes. A 3-point shot by Joe Deppe with 17:42 to play gave River Falls an 11-point lead. From that point on the lead would remain in double-digits, handing the Falcons their second loss of the season.

CUW appeared to have the momentum heading into halftime. After trailing 41-26 with 2:42 remaining, the Falcons closed the half on a 10-3 run, trimming the deficit to six points. Junior Taron Edwards started the run with four points, while junior Bradley Prinsen and sophomore Eric Kittel each drained 3-point baskets during the stretch.

Junior Malcolm Bowers (Germantown, Wis.) paced the Falcons offense with a team-best 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. CUW also got double-digit efforts from sophomore Kittel (Brillion, Wis.), Prinsen (Oostburg, Wis.) and Keith Kahlfeldt (New Berlin, Wis.). Kittle finished with 13, while Prinsen and Kahlfeldt added 12 and 11, respectively.

UW-River Falls relied on a strong field-goal percentage to pick up the 16-point victory, shooting 59.6 percent (34-for-57) from the floor. They connected on 70.4 percent (19-for-27) of their first-half attempts, but only held a six-point lead at the break thanks to a Falcons defense that forced 12 turnovers. CUW won the turnover battle Saturday, committing just 11 turnovers compared to 20 for UWRF.

UWRF (1-2) received a game-best 18 points and nine rebounds from forward John Christensen. The host Falcons also showcased plenty of depth with four players finishing in double-figures, the three others besides Christensen coming off the bench. UW-River Falls totaled 56 bench points, while CUW had 29 points from its reserves. Bowers had 15 of those points, while junior Edwards (Racine, Wis.) chipped in with nine.

Senior Dustin Thumann (Marshfield, Wis.) grabbed a team-best seven rebounds for CUW. The Falcons were outrebounded by a 42-26 margin, but were able to post 11 offensive boards. Four of Thumann's seven rebounds came on the offensive end.

CUW will now have a week off before continuing its season-opening five-game road stretch. The Falcons will travel to Aurora University next Saturday for its conference-opener against the Spartans. Tip-off between CUW and AU is set for 4:15 p.m.