SAN ANTONIO, Texas (WLCSports.com) - Graduates Jacob Hefle (Germantown, Wis.) and Jacob Stoltz (Kewaskum, Wis.) scored 19 points apiece to pace No. 17 Wisconsin Lutheran College to a 73-60 non-conference win over Southwestern on Friday in the opening game of the Leslie Robinson Holiday Classic at Bell Center.
The Warriors (8-1), who bounced back from their first loss of the season, shot over 40 percent for the eighth time this season while matching a season-high 11 steals.
WLC scored the first 11 points of the game and led 14-2 over the Pirates three minutes in by making five of its first six shots. Senior AJ Vos (Lombard, Ill.) gave Wisconsin Lutheran a 14-point lead, its largest of the first half, after his jumper made it 18-4 at the 14:44 mark. SU answered with a 10-0 scoring run to trail by just four points with 11:10 remaining in the opening half. Southwestern came within three points at 29-26 with just under five minutes left before a 10-0 Warriors run extended the advantage to 13 points following a layup from freshman Luke Anamndu (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) in the final minute. WLC went into halftime in front of the Pirates, 39-28.
Wisconsin Lutheran maintained a double-digit lead throughout the entire back-and-forth second half, where neither team went on more than a five-point scoring run. Hefle gave the Warriors a game-high 17-point advantage at 51-34 after knocking down one of his five three-pointers with 15:14 left in the game. SU came as close as 11 points with 8:40 left in the game, but WLC put the game away by making 13 of its 17 free throw attempts in the second half.
Hefle and Stoltz scored 19 points apiece to lead all scorers. Vos added 11 points. Graduate Ryan Broeckel (Chilton, Wis.) finished with nine points, along with a game-high 11 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. Graduate Grayson Goetz (Aurora, Ill.) chipped in nine points and five assists. Wisconsin Lutheran shot 42.9 percent (24-for-56) from the floor and 80 percent (16-for-20) from the charity stripe.
Brock Luechtefeld and Jared Robins scored 13 points each for Southwestern (0-8), which shot 44.9 percent (22-for-49) for the game.
The Warriors take on their first ranked opponent of the season on Saturday, battling No. 23 Trinity (6-1) at 4 p.m. in the final game of the Leslie Robinson Holiday Classic. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.