Falcons catch fire in second half of road NACC victory

Milwaukee, Wis. – Concordia Wisconsin had to battle the whole way in this road contest against Wisconsin Lutheran in order overcome a 10-point deficit at halftime. The Falcons prevailed with the help of Josh Erickson and Jordan Johnson to pick up an 82-73 victory in a tough matchup against a quality NACC opponent.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Concordia Wisconsin 82, Wisconsin Lutheran 73
Location: Recreation Complex (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Records: Concordia Wisconsin 10-8, 8-5 NACC; Wisconsin Lutheran 2-14, 2-10 NACC

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Falcons went into halftime down 37-27 and shooting 35.7 percent from the field. Knowing that they will need a solid second half to come away with a victory, CUW came out on fire shooting 71.4 percent for the second half and road the hot hands of senior Josh Erickson (Manitowoc, Wis.) and freshman Jordan Johnson (Cedarburg, Wis.) to an 82-73 win. Erickson had a team high 19 points, scoring 13 points in the second half on 5-of-5 shooting as the senior was on full attack mode towards the basket creating space at the rim numerus times. Johnson provided 16 points on the night, scoring 14 in the second half on 5-of-5 shooting and was punishing the Warriors for leaving him open from behind the arc as he terrorized them from deep going 3-of-3 in the second half.
- Both Erickson and Johnson weren't the only ones that contributed in a big way as junior Noah Gosse (Green Bay, Wis.) chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds as he made multiple hustle plays to find the loose ball after missed shots and bullied his way underneath though a sea of defenders to make contested layups for the Falcons off the bench. Senior Josh Hau (Slinger, Wis.) also chipped in 13 points for the Falcons.
- Coming off a big win against the top NACC team the visitors came ready to play and looked to climb in the conference standings. In a tight matchup with only two points separating the teams as WLC led 61-59 with just over 6:30 to play in the last half of regulation, CUW dug deep and pushed in front after a few clutch shots from Erickson and Gosse making the score 70-64 with three minutes to play.
- Concordia Wisconsin stood tall as Wisconsin Lutheran was trying to make a push with just under three minutes left when Collin Kennedy made a layup to put the score at 70-66. The Falcons forced the Warriors to go 3-of-7 with three turnovers in the last three minutes of the game.      

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- CUW has won its last four games and has averaged 80.5 points per game over those four games, while holding opponents to 72.5 points per game.

THE OPPOSITION
- WLC relied on Chase Nowak who netted 15 points and dished out five helpers and Mack Knueppel who chipped in with 15 points as well as five rebounds. Caleb Goldstein finished with 12 points and two steals, while Kennedy had 11 total points on the night.  

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- The Falcons will travel to Aurora as they look to get another road win on Tuesday as tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.