Falcons defeat Lakeland, Cassidy moves into second place for coaching wins

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin held off a late charge by Lakeland College on Tuesday night for an 84-79 victory. The Falcons led from the start and made four free throws in the final 18 seconds to preserve the win, but more importantly head coach Shawn Cassidy moved into second place in program history with his 127th victory.

CUW held a double-digit lead for over half the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game, but had to continually slow down a hot-shooting LC team which finished 57.7 percent from the field. The Falcons shot well themselves, 49.2 percent, and made nine 3-pointers.

Cassidy picked up his 127th career victory as CUW's leader, passing Dick Weis who won 126 games from 1973-74 to 1978-79. As well, Cassidy also passed his former coach and mentor Wayne Rasmussen earlier this season after notching win 122 on Jan. 10.

The Falcons had four players score in double-figures and turned the ball over 12 times, after committing a season-worst 20 errors last Saturday. CUW forced 18 turnovers and turned those Muskie miscues into 23 points. They also brought down 13 offensive rebounds and converted those into 13 second chance points.

Junior Malcolm Bowers (Germantown, Wis.) led the team in scoring for the second-consecutive game with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, to go along with six rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Eric Kittel (Brillion, Wis.) drained four 3-pointers and ended with 16 points, as well as four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Junior Brett Boettcher (New Holstein, Wis.) finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals, while junior Bradley Prinsen (Oostburg, Wis.) added 13 points and five assists. Junior Keith Kahlfeldt (New Berlin, Wis.) scored nine points, dished out three assists and stole two passes.

Kurt Jansen paced the Muskies with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and Joey Burris tallied 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench. Travis Kell had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists, but turned the ball over seven times.

CUW quickly built a double-digit lead less than seven minutes into the game and was ahead by 17 points following a Taron Edwards (junior, Racine, Wis.) layup with 9:40 before halftime. They eventually took a 47-38 lead into the locker room after the Muskies put together a 14-7 scoring run over the last five minutes and 23 seconds.

The Falcons quickly took control again and led by a game-high 18 point with 12:34 to play in the game. Things got interesting after LC put together a 17-3 scoring run to get within three points, 70-67, with 5:52 on the clock. CUW would increase its advantage to 11 points a few minutes later, but the Muskies wouldn't go away. A pair of Prinsen and Boettcher layups with less than 18 seconds to play sealed the victory.

CUW returns to action on Friday and Saturday at the 64th Annual Concordia Invitational Tournament. The Falcons are scheduled to play Concordia University Ann Arbor on Friday at 8 pm EST. Saturday's opponent will be either Concordia University Chicago or Concordia University Nebraska.