Mequon

Concordia, 10-6 in the NAC, led most of the way, fell behind by 4 with five minutes to play, and then rallied to defeat visiting Edgewood (9-7) 67-65 in the NAC North Championship game last evening in the Buuck Fieldhouse.

Four Falcons scored in double figures with leading scorers Mitchell Schneider (15); Skip Newton Kemp (14); and Kyle Barth (10) all playing key roles during the frantic final moments.

With CUW facing a four point deficit (58-54) at the five minute mark, shooting guard Schneider was fouled on a three point effort and knocked down all three free throws to bring Concordia within one.

Seconds later the sophomore guard converted Matt Paluchniak's steal into a layup to give CUW the lead 59-58 with just over four minutes left.

Edgewood season-long scoring leader Matt Wisniewski tallied inside to give the visitors their final lead (60-59) but Barth hit a long three for a 62-60 Concordia advantage at 2:42. The Eagles' Aaron Ritschard tied it one last time on a layup before Tyler Granrath's brace of free throws made it 64-62 Falcons.

The visitors' Kent Faurote got only one of two free throws to fall at 1:04 (64-63) before Newton-Kemp launched another no conscience 3 point success at :39 for what turned out to be the winning points.

The Eagles answered with Derek Nkemnji's layup to make it 67-65 with :16 remaining. Falcon John Ulrich missed a bonus after being fouled with :12 left before Barth stepped out for a high post steal with 2.9 remaining so that Shawn Cassidy's team could celebrate their first NAC Championship.

Edgewood, 12-12 overall, got a 17 point and 10 rebound performance from Jeff Barczak. The visitors outrebounded CUW 35-27 but hit only 9 of 16 free throws.

CUW hit 11 of 25 from long range on this night to improve to 14-10 overall. The Falcons will host Southern Division champion Aurora in a crossover game Saturday in the Buuck Fieldhouse.

Whether that Saturday "crossover" game is at 4:15pm or 7:00pm is still dependant on the results of women's games tonight. The CUW women, (15-1) have the top record in the NAC North but if Alverno (11-6 with one game to play) wins the Southern Division then a CUW- Alverno crossover game will be played at Alverno because the teams' earlier matchup was at Concordia.

If the WLC women, (also 11-6 with a game left) win the South, then the Falcons will host the Warriors at 2:00pm on Saturday (the teams met earlier in Milwaukee) with the men's clash following right after.

A third scenario could play out if both WLC and Alverno lose and Benedictine wins. CUW would then travel to Lisle, Illinois, to battle Benedictine, with the men's game here at Concordia at 7pm.