Hot shooting second half not enough for Men's Basketball against MSOE

MEQUON, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin overcame a double-figure deficit with a hot shooting second half, but it wasn't enough as MSOE took a 74-72 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference matchup inside the R. John Buuck Field House on Tuesday evening.

The Falcons tied the game twice in the second half and was within a field goal for the final 11:31, but didn't put together a much needed scoring run in crunch time. They twice had opportunities in the final seconds, however a turnover and a long jumper were not enough.

CUW shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) in the second half and received 48 points from its reserves. They also made 75.9 percent (22-of-29) of its free throw attempts, but stole just one pass – the Falcons average nearly nine per game.

Freshman Eric Kittel (Brillion, Wis.) led the Falcons with 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Dustin Thumann (Marshfield, Wis.) had a career-high 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 5-of-5 at the free throw line. Sophomore Garrett Wenzelburger (Hartland, Wis.) added 11 points off the bench.

Austin Stueck led all players with 23 points and nine rebounds. Connor Patterson had 13 points and five rebounds, while John Cording netted 11 points, assisted on four field goals and stole a game-best four passes for the Raiders (19-4, 14-4 NACC).

The Falcons (11-12, 9-9 NACC) led for just two minutes and 27 seconds in the early going before the Raiders took control. MSOE used an 11-0 scoring run in just over three minutes to take a game-high 14 points lead with a minute to play before the intermission.

The Raiders led 43-30 at the break after receiving 10 points from Stueck.

CUW trailed until tying the game, 55-55, with 10:12 to play in the game. They again tied the game at 59-all, but untimely 3-point misses caused missed offensive chances. The Falcons shot 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from downtown for the game.

The Falcons return to action on Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest at Aurora University.