Men's Basketball falls in opening round of CIT

ANN ARBOR, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin dropped a 56-48 decision to Concordia University Ann Arbor in the opening round of the Concordia Invitational Tournament on Friday night.

The Falcons will face Concordia University Chicago on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm in the consolation game.

CUW struggled in the second half shooting the basketball and made just 28.0 percent and drained just 2-of-12 attempts from downtown. The game was close throughout with seven scoring ties and six lead changes, but an 8-0 scoring run to close the game allowed CUAA to advance to the title game.

The Falcons had the game tied at 48-48 with 4:11 in the game, but didn't score the rest of the way. They ended the game missing four field goal attempts and two free throws, and turned the ball over twice. CUW also turned the ball over 18 times and pulled down just five offensive rebounds (average 12 per game).

Junior Malcolm Bowers (Germantown, Wis.) led the Falcons with 11 points, while junior Brett Boettcher (New Holstein, Wis.) had eight points and nine rebounds. Freshman Matt Wilke (Sheboygan Falls, Wis.) drained three 3-pointers off the bench.

Andrew Patrick led all scorers with 17 points, to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Josh Fugate and Joe Remstad scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Cardinals. Austin Elam also recorded six points, six rebounds and three assists.

The first half became tight, after three scoring ties and two lead changes, but a late 23-9 scoring run over the last 10 minutes erased a 14-point deficit for the Falcons. During the stretch they forced the Cardinals into three turnovers and a dismal 3-of-12 shooting.

Over the first 12 minutes of the second half things went back-and-forth, until the Cardinals locked up the Falcons in the final four minutes. CUAA finished with a 19-6 difference in points off turnovers, 11-2 lead in second chance scoring and held a 30-22 advantage in points in the paint.