MILWAUKEE, WI - The Benedictine University men's basketball team rallied in the second half to pick up a key road win over MSOE and clinch a conference tournament slot
Benedictine 83, MSOE 75
• MSOE led for most of the first half
• Brayden Olson evened the game at 10-10 with 13:14 remaining in the first half before MSOE countered with a 12-0 run to jump ahead 22-10 at the mid-point of the first
• The first half advantage reached 18 after a 9-1 run made the score 35-17 with 6:41 to go in the first
• Benedictine turned the momentum before the half, closing on an 11-0 run while trailing by 16
• Jens Soderholm scored the first six points of the stretch with back-to-back three-pointers
• Olson notched the final five points of the run, bringing Benedictine within 48-43 on a three-pointer in the final minute of the half
• The run carried over into the second half, reaching 17-0 as Benedictine tallied the first six points of the second
• Consecutive baskets from Olson set the tone for Eric Grygo to give Benedictine the lead for the first time in the contest with a layup, making the count 49-48 just over a minute into the second
• The next seven minutes of the game played equal until a layup from Olson was part of a 5-0 run, finished with a Kejuan Glosson three-pointer with 11:31 remaining to make the count 65-60
• Benedictine did not trail again in the contest
• Leading 69-67, two free throws from Soderholm began a run of 10-1 that extended the lead to double digits at 79-68 on a layup from Grygo with 4:30 left
• Benedictine has now won six in a row and owns a two-game lead over MSOE and a one-game lead over Aurora with the current tie-breaker headed into the final four games
• The win officially secured an NACC Tournament slot; The NACC Champion hosts the conference tournament February 23-24
• Olson notched another 30-point performance, his fifth of the season, tallying a game best 34 points with eight assists
• Soderholm posted a double-double, his seventh of the year, with 14 points and 13 boards
• Grygo also hit double digits with 12
• Benedictine held a 37-34 edge on the glass and shot 51.6 percent in the second half, finishing the game at 48.4 percent
Benedictine (14-7, 13-3 NACC) continues a stretch of road games to end the year by heading to Concordia Wisconsin on Tuesday night.