Falcon men's basketball falls to 0-2 after loss to Buena Vista

WAUKESHA, Wis.- For a second consecutive day, Concordia Wisconsin (0-2) got off to a miserable start and was unable to completely overcome a huge early deficit by games' end.

This afternoon the Falcons found themselves trailing by an embarrasing 20-2 margin with almost eight minutes gone before fighting back to within 32-25 at the break.

Shawn Cassidy's squad battled mightily in the first ten minutes of the second half, getting as close as 51-49 on Steve Zielinski's (Sr./ Brown Deer, Wis.) layup with eleven minutes remaining.

The outcome was still very much in doubt when Zielinski scored to make it 65-61 with 4:49 left, but CUW turned the ball over three times down the stretch as Buena Vista pulled away.

Zielinski scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and Brian Jackson added 12 of his 14 total markers to rally the Falcons.

After an ice cold 28% first half shooting percentage, CUW warmed up to 57% for the second twenty minutes. 

"We knew we were going to face some tough competition this weekend with Carroll and Buena Vista making the NCAA tournament last year. With our new roster, the tournament was a great opportunity for us to play two close games and learn from the experience.  Many of our players have not played in those situations.  We need to use the next week to make adjustments and continue to grow as a team before we play Marian on the 27th," rationalized Coach Cassidy.

 Buena Vista had four players in double figures with Cole Darrow's 17 leading the way.  BV shot 52 % for the game and outrebounded Concordia 38-33.