MEQUON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Lutheran College men's basketball team fell victim to a huge Concordia Wisconsin run in the first half of Wednesday night's Northern Athletics Conference game and that proved to be too much as the Warriors fell on the road, 90-64.
In the opening half, the Warriors battled CUW early as they trailed by just seven points, 23-16, with 9:31 remaining on the clock. The Falcons then went on a huge run by scoring 10 straight points and 19 of the next 21 to take a 42-18 lead.
Concordia Wisconsin then went ahead 48-23 to take a first-half best 25-point lead, before WLC scored the last six points of the half to trail 48-29 at the break.
Shooting was on display in the opening half as Wisconsin Lutheran connected on 43.3 percent (13-for-30) of its shots. Concordia Wisconsin was even tougher to defend as it knocked down 58.8 percent (20-for-34) of its first-half shots.
Tim Demuth (Franksville, Wis./Racine Lutheran) led Wisconsin Lutheran as he tallied 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range in the half. Julion Griffin (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) grabbed seven first-half rebounds to lead all players.
Nick Doedens and Ben Brooke both played an impressive first half for the host Falcons as they scored 15 and 11 points, respectively. Doedens and Brooke both came off the bench to give CUW a 31-4 advantage in bench scoring.
Wisconsin Lutheran cut its deficit to 15 points on a couple different occasions in the second half, but that would be as close as it would get as the Falcons cruised to the 26-point victory. CUW held a game-high 28-point advantage late in the second half.
Demuth finished tied for season-high 21 points as he was one of three Warriors in double figures. Griffin posted a double-double as he pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with 10 points. Alex Merbach (Kaukauna, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) added 12 points. For the game, Wisconsin Lutheran shot 38.9 percent (28-for-72) from the floor.
Doedens finished with a game-high 21 points on 5-for-8 from three-point range to lead CUW (13-4, 9-2 NAC). Brooke added 14 points, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor as Concordia Wisconsin shot 60.3 percent (38-for-63) for the game. Matt Paluchniak dished out 11 assists for the Falcons.
Bench scoring was a big difference in the game as the Falcons dominated that category, 51-8. Wisconsin Lutheran won the rebounding battle, 40-36.
Wisconsin Lutheran (3-15, 2-8 NAC) will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Aurora (9-9, 5-5 NAC) in its annual Winterfest game. Tip-off between the Warriors and Spartans is set for 3:15 p.m. Fans unable to attend the game can follow the action live via audio, stats and video at wlcsports.com.