LISLE, IL - The Benedictine University men's basketball team made a valiant comeback but fell short in losing at home for the first time this year to visiting MSOE in the semifinals of the NACC Tournament.

FINAL SCORE
MSOE 74, Benedictine 70

THE DETAILS
• MSOE, the preseason conference favorite featuring the reigning NACC Player of the Year, scored the first points of the game and led for the entire first half
• The visitors led 13-2 just four minutes into the contest
• Down by 13 points with five minutes left in the half at 33-20, Benedictine closed on a 11-1 run to pull within 34-31 at the break following a Kenny Bogus three-pointer
• Following a free throw, Keegan Graebner hit a three and drove down the lane for a layup to give Benedictine a 36-35 lead, the only lead of the game
• MSOE ripped off the next 15 points to lead 50-36 with 12:55 to play
• Nick Kosich connected on a three-pointer to kickoff an 8-0 run capped with an Eric Grygo layup to make the score 54-48 with 8:58 remaining
• A jumper from Keegan Graebner drew Benedictine within 56-51 with 7:32 left
• MSOE, who won on the road on Tuesday night, led by five with 3:32 to play before scoring nine straight to lead 71-57 in the final minute
• Benedictine mounted a frantic comeback to have a chance in the closing moments
• Bogus hit a three following a Kosich steal and hit a jumper to bring Benedictine within 71-62
• Bogus hit another three following a turnover and an offensive rebound to make the score 71-65 with 33 seconds left
• MSOE (15-12) missed the front end of a one-and-one and Bogus grabbed the rebound, sprinting down and hitting another three to make the score 71-68 with 25 seconds left
• The visitors raced away to a transition layup before a basket from Grygo again made the deficit three at 73-70 with just eight seconds left, but MSOE hit a free throw and held on for the second road win of the tournament
• The loss marked the first at home this season following 11 straight wins

STAT LEADERS
• Bogus finished with 20 points, adding eight rebounds and four assists
• Bogus scored 11 straight in the final minute
• Grygo added 20 points and 11 rebounds
• Keegan Graebner also hit double figures with 10 points
• Benedictine shot 47 percent in the game and held a 34-23 edge on the glass
• MSOE had a big start to both halves from the floor and connected on 11 three-pointers after opening the game 7-for-10; MSOE, who will play for the title on Saturday night at Concordia Wisconsin, shot 63 percent in the second half and finished the game at 53 percent

UP NEXT
Benedictine (20-6) will have to wait until Monday to find out if they are selected to the NCAA Tournament. Currently ranked third in the region, Benedictine has head-to-head wins over two teams behind them in the rankings