2019-20 Stories of the Year (No. 2): Men's Basketball has a memorable season
MEQUON, Wis. -- The 2019-20 athletic year was another successful one for the Concordia Wisconsin Athletic Department. The Falcons won and contended for conference championships in many sports and put together an impressive list of great achievements. As in years past, the Department of Athletic Communications tries to sort through all the great moments and give you, the fans, top stories from the past year.
The list of stories was compiled by the Department of Athletic Communications and, like all lists, is subject to debate. The top stories will be revealed over the next four weeks, with a story being released on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The top story will be released on May 20.
No. 2 Story of the Year
Men's Basketball has a memorable season
Concordia Wisconsin won the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament (NACC) for the second time in program history and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the fourth time in program history. They were a game shy of earning a share of the NACC regular season crown as well.
The Falcons boasted a 19-10 overall record and a 15-5 mark when the year came to a close with an opening-round loss at No. 8 UW-Platteville. The Falcons turned it on in the second half of the season, compiling a 14-6 record when the calendar flipped to 2020. They went 6-2 over the last eight games of the conference schedule to earn the third seed and a home tournament game.
At eighth-ranked UW-Platteville on March 6, Concordia Wisconsin cut the game to a five-point deficit with 7:53 to play after going on a quick 10-0 scoring run over a one minute and 15-second span that featured back-to-back triples by sophomore Jared Jurss (Sheboygan, Wis.).
Throughout the season, Jordan Johnson led the team offensively with a 19.3 points per game average, while Jurss set the program's single-season record for assists (197) and ranked 10th nationally. Both players earned All-NACC First Team honors and were named NACC Players of the Week at least once. Sophomore Brandon Keller (Plymouth, Wis.), along with junior Alex Antonie (Sheboygan Falls, Wis.) and freshman Gabe Pruss (North Fond du Lac, Wis.) controlled the area around the rim. Keller led the team with 213 rebounds, which ranked fourth in the NACC, to go along with six double-doubles. Antonie had a team-high-tying 24 rejections.
Junior Joey Zietlow (Oak Creek, Wis.) quietly stuff his stat line night in and night out, which including a team-high 60 steals (second in the NACC). He averaged 13.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.7 steals. Four seniors (Isaiah Tenette, Olalekan George, Nolan Rhey and Braden Persinger) gave everything they had during their careers and helped guide the Falcons to a 70-40 overall record, 57-23 record in league play and a 35-11 record at home. George ended his career ranked tied for 10th in the NCAA-era with 40 blocks.
2019-20 CUW Athletics Stories of the Year
HM: Women's Basketball and Football break records
No. 10: Sam Otto of Men's Golf breaks 36-hole record
No. 9: Softball posts program-best start
No. 8: Dance wins CIT title
No. 7: Goucher and Curran shine at NACC Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship
No. 6: Men's Hockey upsets No. 9 Lake Forest on senior night
No. 5: Johnson, Jurss have a record-setting night
No. 4: ACHA Hockey has record-breaking season
No. 3: Women's Volleyball captures pair of titles
No. 2: Men's Basketball has a memorable season
No. 1: May 20
