MSOE edges Men's Basketball, 78-74, in NACC play

MILWAUKEE – MSOE used a 9-1 run late in the second half to help them edge the Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Basketball team, 78-74, in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference matchup Thursday night at the Kern Center.

The Falcons and Raiders played a back-and-forth contest for much of the night. Freshman Eric Kittel (Brillion, Wis.) drained a 3-pointer with 7:23 remaining in the game to bring CUW within two at 65-63. The Raiders would answer with their 9-1 run, taking a 74-64 with 3:52 left in the contest.

Kittel then hit another shot from long distance to help spark a 7-0 Falcons run bring them within three with two minutes remaining. MSOE pushed the lead right back to 76-71 but Kittel answered with a jumper to again bring CUW within three, this time with just 37 seconds remaining. The Raiders John Cording would hit a pair of free throws as MSOE held on for the four-point victory.

Junior Brett Boettcher (New Holstein, Wis.) scored 19 points to pace the Falcons, while Kittel finished with 14 and shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and 4-for-4 from 3-point range. Both teams shot it well from distance on Thursday as the Falcons made 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from deep, while MSOE was 10-for-17 (58.8 percent).

Free throw shooting proved to be costly for CUW in the contest. Both teams finished the game with eight made free throws, but CUW had 19 attempts compared to 11 for the Raiders, shooting just 42.1 percent from the line.

Neither team could gain much of an advantage early in the contest as the Falcons held an 18-16 edge with 10:20 to play in the first half. It was CUW who made the first small run of the game, scoring six straight, four from Boettcher as they build their largest lead of the game at 24-16 with 7:22 to go in half number one.

MSOE (12-3, 7-3 NACC) would close out the first half strong, finishing on a 16-5 run capped off by a last-second 3-pointer from Jaren Singh to make the score 32-29 in favor of the Raiders after 20 minutes of play.

The Raiders would then hold a lead for much of the second half as the Falcons only led on two occasions for a total of 1:18 after halftime.

Austin Stueck finished with a game-high 22 points for MSOE as he matched Kittel's production from 3-point range, also connecting on all four of his attempts. The Raiders also got strong bench performances from Singh and Collin Seubert as they finished with 15 and 10 points, respectively, as the MSOE reserves outscored the Falcons bench 33-23. Junior Mark Scholz (Greenfield, Wis.) scored 12 points for the Falcons.

CUW (7-8, 5-6 NACC) will return to action on Saturday as they host Rockford in a NACC matchup. The Falcons and Regents will tip things off at 2 p.m. at the R. John Buuck Field House and live coverage will links will be available at CUWFalcons.com.