#CUWStatsInfo: Men’s Basketball year in review
MEQUON, Wis. - Despite a disappointing loss in the first round of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament, the CUW Men's Basketball team still put together an accomplished 2015-16 season.
7: The Falcons had seven seniors on the roster this year, five of which have been with the program the last four years. This group of seniors combined for 94 wins over their careers and six were part of last year's NACC Tournament Championship team, which also advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
9: CUW won nine-straight conference games to close out the regular season. Following a 67-76 loss at Benedictine on Jan. 16, the Falcons went on to defeat MSOE, Rockford, Lakeland, Marian, Wisconsin Lutheran, Aurora, Edgewood and Concordia Chicago twice to conclude the regular season schedule.
11.1: The Falcons finished the season averaging 11.1 steals per contest, which ranked first in the NACC. CUW reached double-digit steals in 18 games, which included a season-high 22 steals against Rockford on Jan. 23.
16: CUW finished with 16 wins on the season. It is the sixth time in the last seven years the Falcons have finished with 15 or more wins in a season. Eight of those wins came inside the R. John Buuck Field House and seven of the 16 wins amassed 90 or more points.
42: Senior Keith Kahlfeldt (New Berlin, Wis.) put on a shooting display in CUW's 120-110 win at Aurora back on Feb. 13. He poured in a career-high 42 points on 14-of-20 shooting from the field in the Falcon's win. Kahlfeldt also went 7-of-10 from 3-point range in his career performance. His 42 points ranks second in program history for most individual points scored in a game.
127: CUW closed the regular season with a record setting 127-80 win over Concordia Chicago. The Falcons set the previous record of 120 points one week earlier at Aurora, but came out shooting hot against the Cougars as they poured in 74 first half points on 79..4 percent shooting and then added 53 second half points. All 17 players that suited up reached the scoring column in the win.
1,000: Junior Eric Kittel and Kahlfeldt both reached the 1,000 point plateau for their careers becoming the 14th and 15th players in program history to do so. Kahlfeldt reached 1,000 points at Wisconsin Lutheran on Jan. 14 and Kittel reached 1,000 points at Aurora on Feb. 13. Kahlfeldt currently ranks third in program history in the NCAA era with 1,167 career points. Kittel ranks seventh with 1,061 career points with one season remaining in his collegiate career.
4,262: The Falcons flew over 4,000 miles this season, as they took a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico just before the Christmas Holiday to partake in the two day Puerto Rico Classic. CUW split their games in San Juan, dropping their first matchup 49-50 to Salisbury, but bounced back on day two to top Randolph 74-51.
Coach Cassidy's final thoughts:
- "It was probably our most exciting season with so many games come down to the final seconds. It was also exciting to see DeShaun come back and finish up his career and education along with our six other seniors finishing up their careers."
- "I thought the second half of our season showed a lot of growth and a lot of improvement; we got back to playing Concordia basketball."
- "Despite the close last second losses it seemed like every loss brought us closer together and pushed us harder."
- "As for the seven seniors, they have done so much for this program and university over their careers and in the community, and they will be greatly missed."
- "Moving forward, next year has started already and I really like what our younger players bring to the table; Concordia basketball will continue to be good."
