Men's Basketball Drops Season Opener

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The CUW men's basketball team opened the season with a hard-fought 81-79 loss to Illinois College on Friday night.

The Falcons started strong, jumping out to an early 7-3 lead as junior Jack Fritz (Columbus, Wis.) hit a jumper, junior Logan Landers (Cedarburg, Wis.) made a layup, and sophomore Matt Merlo (Random Lake, Wis.) knocked down a three-pointer.

At the 15:18 mark, sophomore Casey Verhagen (Sheboygan, Wis.) added his first points as a Falcon, connecting from beyond the arc to extend CUW's lead to 10-5. A few possessions later, Fritz completed an old-fashioned three-point play, assisted by Verhagen, putting the Falcons up 13-7.

With 10:33 remaining in the half, senior Zach Leahy (West Dundee, Ill.) hit a layup to give CUW a 17-12 advantage. The Falcons continued to build their lead, reaching 22-12 thanks to an and-one from Merlo and another layup from Landers, assisted by sophomore Mekhi Sutton (San Diego, Calif.).

CUW stretched their lead to 14 with a quick 5-0 run as Landers hit a three-pointer and Fritz added another jumper, putting the Falcons up 34-20 with just under five minutes to play in the first half.

The Falcons went into halftime with a 37-28 lead after Landers converted another and-one opportunity in the closing seconds.

Out of the break, Illinois College began to chip away at the lead, cutting it to five points just five minutes into the second half. Despite the Blue Boys' surge, the Falcons held onto a narrow advantage, with buckets from freshman Luke Eggemeyer (Perryville, Mo.) and Sutton putting CUW up 57-50 with 9:21 remaining.

However, Illinois College mounted a late comeback, pulling within three points with just over six minutes left. The Blue Boys took the lead at 4:23 after a pair of free throws.

Undeterred, the Falcons tied the game at 72-72 with 3:06 to play on a layup from Landers. But Illinois College responded with back-to-back baskets, regaining a four-point lead with 51 seconds remaining.

Despite a strong effort from CUW, Illinois College made their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the 81-79 victory.

As a team, the Falcons shot 50 percent from the field (30-of-60) and 43.8 percent from three-point range (7-of-16). They also connected on 12-of-14 free throws (85.7 percent).

While they led for 34:47 of the game, including a 14-point advantage at one point, CUW couldn't hold off the late rally by Illinois College.

Individually, Verhagen led the Falcons with 19 points, four assists, and two steals. Landers added 12 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks, while Fritz contributed 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, five rebounds, and two steals. Merlo finished with 14 points, including a perfect 5-of-5 performance from the free-throw line, in his first game since mid-January.

The Falcons will look to bounce back quickly as they face the Franklin Grizzlies in their next contest on Saturday, November 16th.