Hot shooting propels Men’s Basketball to victory over UW-Platteville

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. - Luke Doedens and Mitchell Schneider led a red-hot shooting Concordia University Wisconsin men's basketball team on Friday night as they defeated UW-Platteville, 76-66, in non-conference action at the Gabe Miller Tip-Off Classic on Bo Ryan Court.

Doedens (senior, Cedarburg, Wis.) led all scorers with 24 points, while Schneider (senior, New Holstein, Wis.) tallied 22 points. The duo combined for seven 3-pointers as the Falcons hit 59.6 percent (28-of-47) of their field goals. CUW also finished 9-for-19 from behind the arc.

The box score was nearly identical, but the difference late in the second half was freshman Ben Brooke's (Viroqua, Wis.) 3-pointer that gave CUW (2-0) a 67-60 lead with 6:33 remaining in the game. From then on the Falcons held the Pioneers to just two field goals as they outscored UW-P 12-6.

"We had another great team effort tonight," head coach Shawn Cassidy said. "We played completely unselfish Falcon basketball and we got stronger as the game went on. We have a lot guys who can contribute at any point in the game."

The victory is the second straight over a UW school to begin the season for CUW.

UW-P (1-1) also shot well as it finished 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the field. Rob Stallion led the Pioneers with 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting, to go along with six rebounds. Brett Stangel scored 15 points and Jake Manning added 11 points of his own. The Pioneers finished with a 42-28 advantage in paint scoring.

Senior Nick Doedens (Germantown, Wis.) chipped in nine points for the Falcons, while Brooke scored nine points off the bench. Senior Matt Paluchniak (Oostburg, Wis.) finished with five rebounds and four assists.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair for the first several minutes until the Pioneers took a nine-point lead behind a B.J. Litz layup with 13:56 left in the opening half. The Falcons charged back with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 24-24.

Luke Doedens would sink a running 18-footer as the halftime buzzer sounded to give CUW a 42-41 lead. He scored 15 points in the opening 20 minutes, while Schneider scored 12 for the Falcons. Stallion led the Pioneers with 13 points.

UW-P scored 32 of its 41 first half points in the paint. There were 17 lead changes and five scoring ties during the first 20 minutes.

The second half featured three scoring ties, but CUW led the majority of the way. The Falcons built their largest lead of the game - 12 points - behind a Luke Doedens free throw with 1:25 remaining in the game. Schneider led all scorers with 10 points in the second half.

CUW returns to the court on Saturday at 5 p.m. for its second games in as many days against UW-Eau Claire. The Blue Gold dropped a 54-52 game to North Park University on Friday evening. Live statistics and live video are available for the game.