Balanced scoring leads Men's Basketball past Benedictine

MEQUON, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin built a double-digit lead midway through the first half before going into cruise control and defeating Benedictine University, 90-76, on Saturday afternoon inside the R. John Buuck Field House during Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play.

CUW led from the start and saw its lead hover around 20 points for the majority of the second half, which allowed head coach Shawn Cassidy to play 15 players during the team's first home game in over five weeks.

They finished with a season-high 13 3-pointers, 24 assists and shot over 50 percent (55.2) for the second time this season. The Falcons also stole 11 passes and committed just 12 turnovers in a cleanly played contest.

Sophomore Keith Kahlfeldt (New Berlin, Wis.) led all players with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, to go along with six rebounds and a career-high six assists. Sophomore Bradley Prinsen (Oostburg, Wis.) finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists; while freshman Eric Kittel (Brillion, Wis.) drained four long balls and stole three passes.

Sophomore Brett Boettcher (New Holstein, Wis.) tallied 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out a career-best four assists. Junior Mark Scholz (Greenfield, Wis.) ended with nine points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals during 18 minutes of action.

Tim McGinty led BU (5-9, 3-6 NACC) with 18 points, while Tahron Harvey scored 12 points off the bench. Michael Woolf and Tyler Thurston each scored 11 points, and Michael Blaszcyzk finished with 10 points.

CUW (7-6, 5-4 NACC) turned a two-point advantage into a 21-10 lead with seven minutes elapsed in the ball game. The lead dipped to eight points before a 13-2 scoring run pushed it to 19 points with 5:46 left in the first half. During the scoring run Kittel knocked down back-to-back triples, while senior Steven Brodie (Oak Park, Calif.) made a 3-pointer of his own.

The Falcons went into the locker room at halftime leading 50-33, thanks in part to just four first half turnovers. Kahlfeldt led all players with 12 points, while Kittel had three 3-pointers.

CUW was outscored 28-16 in the paint during the second period, but it didn't matter because it stroked seven 3-pointers to maintain its sizable lead.

CUW returns to action on Tuesday with matchup against NACC-leading Marian University at 7 p.m. inside the R. John Buuck Field House.