Season preview: Men's Basketball prepared to defend title

MEQUON, Wis. -- Concordia Wisconsin is prepped and ready for the 2019-20 campaign, which will begin with an exhibition game on Tuesday at 7 pm against Milwaukee at UWM Panther Arena in downtown Milwaukee.

The Falcons are coming off a season in which they shared the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference regular-season title after compiling a 16-4 league record to go along with its 18-8 overall record. The title was the fourth in head coach Shawn Cassidy's tenure and he is entering his 13th season as the program's mentor, owning 201 victories which is the second-most in program history.

Concordia Wisconsin will rely on junior Jordan Johnson (Cedarburg, Wis.) who is the team's top returning scorer after averaging 15.7 points per game on 50.2 percent shooting (45.1 percent from the 3-point line). He had over 20 points in five games last season and recorded five double-doubles. The Falcons will also look to senior Olalekan George (Milwaukee, Wis.) for leadership after he scored 6.5 points, grabbed 2.7 rebounds and stole nearly an assist per game last season as a defensive-minded forward.

Sophomore Jared Jurss (Sheboygan, Wis.) started 15-of-26 games last season as the point guard and registered 116 assists (4.5 per game), which ranked second in the NACC. He set the program record for assists in a game with 15 against Rockford on January 19 last season, while committing just one turnover in that victory at home.

The 2019-20 roster will have a much different look than in past years, as just one player is listed under 6-foot. In all, nine players are listed at 6-foot-5 or taller and in all likelihood, the starting five could be 6-foot-3 and taller.

Concordia Wisconsin will have to get comfortable living out of a suitcase during the 11 regular-season games, as nine of those are on the road, including a tournament at Loras and in Fort Lauderdale, Flordia. The NACC opener is November 23 at Dominican at 7 pm and the home opener is December 4 at 7 pm.