Men's Basketball clinches NAC Tournament bid with win over Concordia Wisconsin
| Published: 02/06/2013 |
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MILWAUKEE — MSOE clinched a berth in the 2013 Northern Athletics Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and kept the top of the NAC North Division tight by knocking off Concordia University Wisconsin, 71-63, Wednesday night at the Kern Center.
MSOE (15-8, 9-5 NAC) entered the evening in fourth place in the division, two-and-a-half games behind frontrunner Lakeland, two games behind the second-place Falcons and a game behind Marian. The victory brings all four teams within two games of each other and keeps alive scenarios where the Raiders surpass Concordia (15-8, 10-4 NAC) and Marian to secure a home game for the tournament quarterfinals. Despite the potential implications of the win, MSOE remains in fourth, as Marian stayed ahead of the Raiders with an 86-82 overtime victory over Edgewood tonight.
The Raiders started strong, taking their largest lead of the game, 26-15, with 5:58 left in the first half. Concordia took a while to find a rhythm after senior center and top rebounder Steve Zielinski had to leave the game early with two fouls, but went on a 21-5 run after MSOE's initial surge to take a 31-30 halftime lead.
Despite falling down as many as six, the Raiders tied the game three different times during the second half before finally snapping a 59-59 deadlock with an Austin Stueck (Fr./South Milwaukee, Wis./AE-CM) runner at the 2:40 mark. The Raiders then scored the next seven points and ended the contest on a 12-4 run to secure the victory. Concordia missed six-straight shots after the Stueck layup while MSOE made 10-of-12 free throws to finish the game.
In all, the Raiders took 37 free throws, their most in a game this season, making 30. Jeremiah Erdmann (So./Oakfield, Wis./BM) did the most damage from the line, going 10-for-12 while leading the Raiders with a career-high 16 points.
Victor Bande (Sr./Madrid, Spain/IE), playing his last regular-season Kern Center game, scored 15 points and was honored by coach Brian Miller in a brief ceremony after the win. Connor Patterson (Fr./Gilbert, Ariz./ME) came off the bench to score 10 points, joining Stueck as the third and fourth players in double figures for MSOE. Senior forward Mark Pace led all scorers in the game with 17 for Concordia.
The Raiders' final two regular-season contests will come on the road with the first taking place against Concordia University Chicago at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday in River Forest, Ill. The team will conclude against Edgewood next Tuesday in Madison.
Fans are encouraged to visit the MSOE Athletics website and the NAC website for further updates on results and tournament scenarios. If the Raiders should earn a home game, tickets for the contest will be made available at the Kern Center Box Office as soon as possible.
