Cold shooting dooms Men's Basketball in loss to Marian

MEQUON, Wis. – Marian University showed why they are atop the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings with a strong defense effort against Concordia University Wisconsin on Tuesday evening. The Sabres earned a 75-55 win inside the R. John Buuck Field House, which snapped a 12-game winning streak by the Falcons between the two teams.

CUW could not find a way to get the ball in the hoop from downtown or inside the arc, as it shot a season-low 32.7 percent (18-of-55) from the field. It was also 8-of-23 from downtown. The Falcons were down single digits for the majority of the first half, but an 11-3 Sabre run over a five-minute span pushed their lead out of reach for CUW.

The Falcons cut a 15-point deficit to seven with 14:51 to play in the game, but MU responded over the next seven minutes and increased its lead to over 20 points. In the end, the Sabres held a 42-18 advantage in points in the paint and shot 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from the floor.

CUW (7-7, 5-5 NACC) had four players score a team-high eight points, while sophomore Brett Boettcher (New Holstein, Wis.) grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. Junior Mark Scholz (Greenfield, Wis.) had eight points (6-of-8 free throws) and six rebounds off the bench. The Falcons were also 11-of-22 from the charity stripe, which was a season-low.

Cody Veleke led all players with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Alex Stecker had 11 points, four rebounds, game-high six assists and two steals for the Sabres (10-4, 9-1 NACC). Josh Creed tallied 16 points and five rebounds off the bench.

MU opened the game with a layup by Stecker and CUW answered on the next possession with an Eric Kittel (freshman, Brillion, Wis.) long ball. From then on, the Sabres led the rest of the way and built their lead to a game-best 25 points with 5:42 to play in the game.

CUW plays its second of three games this week on Thursday at MSOE at 7 p.m. inside the Kern Center.