Men's Basketball upsets No. 14 Benedictine

MEQUON, Wis. – It was going to be difficult no matter what way you looked at it, but Concordia Wisconsin pulled together down the stretch and Josh Hau sank a pair of free throws with 12 seconds to play to finish a career game in an 83-80 upset victory over No. 14 Benedictine on Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Concordia Wisconsin 83, Benedictine 80
Location: R. John Buuck Field House (Mequon, Wis.)
Records: Concordia Wisconsin 8-6, 7-4 NACC; Benedictine 11-4, 9-1 NACC

QUOTING JOSH HAU

 

QUOTING SHAWN CASSIDY

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Eagles entered with a 34-game NACC winning streak and had a chance to tie the game with a late 3-point attempt from the corner in front of their own bench, but it was off the mark.
- Concordia Wisconsin needed to play probably its best game of the season and received double-digit scoring efforts from four different players. Josh Hau rose to the occasion for the third game in a row with a career-high 30 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 1:52 left in the game and the clinching free throws with 12 ticks remaining on the clock.
- It was close throughout with 14 scoring ties and 12 lead changes, but the Falcons put together an energetic final two minutes to hold on for the win. Hau nailed a jumper with 1:52 on the clock to give the hosts a 77-75 lead. Eric Kittel followed with a pair of free throws before Benedictine's Adam Reynolds made a jumper with 1:03 to play.
- Josh Erickson calmly drained two free throws to push the Falcons back ahead by four points with 27 in the game. The Eagle's Tahron Harvey converted an and-1 opportunity, but Hau's free throws were enough to secure the win.
- During the course of the second half, the Falcons showed toughness and resilient attitude in the face of adversity. They seemingly had an answer for every bucket the Eagles scored and grabbed difficult rebounds when they needed to.
- Concordia Wisconsin led 62-57 with 11:27 on the clock, but Benedictine slowly chipped away at its deficit and took a 67-66 lead four minutes later. The Eagles briefly led again, 73-71, for the final time in the game with four minutes and 20 seconds to play.
- Hau (sophomore, Slinger, Wis.) set a career-high in scoring for the third-straight game, this time with 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting (four 3-pointers) and hauled in a career-high-tying eight rebounds.
- Sophomore Andrew Fratzke (Winona, Minn.) ended with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals in 34 minutes of work.
- Senior Eric Kittel (Brillion, Wis.) recorded 15 points, six assists and three steals; while sophomore Jake Jurss (Sheboygan, Wis.) had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.
- Junior Josh Erickson (Manitowoc, Wis.) quietly went about his business and tallied four points, career-high seven rebounds, five assists, career-best three steals and his first career block.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Benedictine ended the game shooting 50.0 percent (32-of-64) compared to Concordia Wisconsin's 45.7 percent (32-of-70).
- The Falcons won the rebounding battle, 38-34, against the Eagles who had a league-leading 7.4 rebounding advantage per game. They also hauled in a season-high-tying 17 offensive rebounds, which were converted into 21-second chance points.
- Fratzke ended the game 8-for-8 (100 percent), which ties the program record for field goal percentage in a game [minimum eight attempts].

THE OPPOSITION
- Michael Blaszczyk led all scorers with 30 points on 10-of-16 from the field; while also grabbing six rebounds, dishing out three assists and blocking two shots.
- Adam Reynolds had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while also blocking two shots.
- Tahron Harvey ended the loss with 13 points three rebounds, six assists and four steals.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- The Falcons take their three-game NACC winning streak to the road for a Tuesday contest at MSOE. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.