Scholz leads balanced scoring attack in Falcons victory over Cougars

MEQUON, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin had five players score in double-figures on Wednesday night, en route to a 90-75 victory over Concordia University Chicago during Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play. The Falcons had their best shooting performance of the season and scored a season-high 52 points in the paint.

CUW's offensive catalyst was Mark Scholz, who scored a career-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Eric Kittel also tallied 20 points inside the R. John Buuck Field House, as the Falcons shot 54.8 percent (34-of-62). They also made half of their 3-point attempts (7-of-14) and had an excellent night at the free throw line (88.2 percent, 15-of-17).

Things looked to be getting out of control early, as the Cougars led by 10 points less than seven minutes into the game, but the Falcons calmed themselves and regrouped. During the next 11 minutes and 40 seconds, CUW flexed its muscle on each end of the court and turned the game in its favor and led 43-37 (16 points swing) with 1:13 to play in the half.

CUC got to within three points, 50-47, early in the second half, but CUW extended its lead to 15 points less than three minutes later. Again, the Cougars slowly clawed their way to within a respectable six points, 75-69, but the Falcons flew away to a game-high 17 points with a minute to play.

Juniors Brett Boettcher (New Holstein, Wis.) and Malcolm Bowers (Germantown, Wis.) chipped in 12 points each for CUW, while junior Taron Edwards (Racine, Wis.) finished with a career-high 11 points on 7-of-7 at the free throw line. Edwards perfect effort at the charity stripe was just the sixth time in program history a player was unblemished with a minimum of six made.

Kittel and Boettcher paced the Falcons with four assists each, while Thumann dished out a career-best three helpers. Junior Bradley Prinsen (Oostburg, Wis.) stole three passes and grabbed five rebounds. Kittel led the deep shooting effort with four triples made. The Falcons five players in double-figures was just the second this season they were that balanced in the scoring column. In addition, Scholz's 81.8 percent from the field was the tied for the ninth-best shooting performance in program history.

As CUW was sharing the basketball, CUC's Kylan Anderson was putting on a show with a game-high 35 points (23 in the first half) on 12-of-19 shooting, including six 3-pointers. He also dished out five helps and stole three passes. Tino Vazquez added 13 points, three steals and two blocks, while DeAires Blackwell ended with six points, 10 rebounds, two assists, three blocks and a steal. Kostas Doxakis scored 10 points off the bench.

The victory was the fourth-consecutive over the Cougars inside the R. John Buuck Field House.

CUW returns to action on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. at Benedictine University, who leads the NACC in rebounding margin. The game is the second part of a doubleheader with the women's program.