Schneider joins 1,000 point club, Men’s Basketball cruises over Aurora

MEQUON, Wis. - Mitchell Schneider joined the illustrious 1,000 point club on Saturday afternoon and the Men's Basketball team cruised to a 90-68 Northern Athletics Conference victory over Aurora University inside the R. John Buuck Field House.

Schneider (New Holstein, Wis.) finished the game with 12 points and became the 13th member in men's basketball history to join the 1,000 point club on a 12-foot jumper from the baseline in the second half. He also finished the game with a season-high six assists.

"Depth has always been a strength of ours," head coach Shawn Cassidy said. "We are going to find the best combination on the court and play as hard as we can every possession. The best thing about our team right now is our unselfishness. Every night a different guy steps up to lead us on either end of the floor."

CUW (7-2, 4-1 NAC) led by six at halftime (45-39) and put the game out of reach for Aurora (4-5, 1-2 NAC) midway through the second half. The Falcons pushed their advantage to 20 points with 5:59 remaining in the game on Schneider's jumper. CUW led by as many as 25 in the victory.

"In the second half we just wore them down," senior guard Mitchell Schneider said. "Our defensive intensity picked up after halftime and our depth is a huge reason why we are winning by such large margins. When we can play 10 to 12 guys consistently and the way some of our guys are shooting, especially Luke (Doedens), it is going to be tough to beat us."

Senior Luke Doedens (Cedarburg, Wis.) scored a team-high 20 points on six 3-pointers, to go along with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. In all, six players scored in double-figures - the most this season. Senior Erik Condia (Orange, Calif.), senior Nick Doedens (Germantown, Wis.) Junior Brian Jackson (Carol Stream, Ill.) and junior Steve Zielinski (Brown Deer, Wis.) all scored 10 points apiece, respectively.

The Falcons drained 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc and finished 51.4 percent from the field. They also recorded 23 assists and received 33 points from their bench. Senior Matt Paluchniak assisted on a season-high seven field goals.

"Our offense is going to be talked about a lot because of the numbers," Cassidy said. "But our ability to focus on the defense end is what will win us games towards the end of the season, especially when the game is on the line in the final moments."

Scott Laskowski led all players with 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field. Mike Bumber chipped in 17 points for the Spartans.

CUW opened the game with a Schneider 3-pointer and held a single-digit lead until AU's Laskowski made a layup to tie the game at 10-10. The Spartans would never lead in the game and fell behind by as many as 14 points in the opening half.

Throughout the second half CUW showed why it has the most potent shooting team in the conference. The Falcons shot above 50 percent in both halves and finished the game making better than half their shots for the fifth time this season.

CUW went to the paint for 28 of its 45 second half points to put the game out of reach. The Falcons led by 20 or more points for 7:48 in the contest and saw 10 players score at least three points.

The Falcons will take a week off from competition to study and complete final exams before returning to the court on Saturday, Dec. 17 to face Carroll University in a non-conference road matchup.