CHICAGO, Ill. - The Concordia University Wisconsin men's basketball team improved to 10-9 on the season and 7-5 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play with a commanding 79-60 road victory over Illinois Tech on Wednesday night.
The Falcons came out firing, jumping to a 16-0 lead within the first five minutes of play. Sophomore Casey Verhagen (Sheboygan, Wis.) set the tone right away, opening the scoring with a layup on CUW's first possession. Fellow sophomore Matt Merlo (Random Lake, Wis.) followed up with a quick layup of his own, and Verhagen took over from there, contributing the next four points for the Falcons. Merlo added two free throws before Verhagen capped the early surge with another layup, bringing his total to eight points in the opening minutes.
Mekhi Sutton (San Diego, Calif.) got in on the action with a layup off a Verhagen assist to push the lead to 14-0. Verhagen then drilled a pull-up jumper to complete the Falcons' 16-0 run. It was not until the 14:08 mark of the first half that the Scarlet Hawks finally got on the board.
Later in the half, freshman Luke Eggemeyer (Perryville, Mo.) made an immediate impact off the bench, knocking down a pair of layups and a three-pointer to help extend CUW's lead to 36-22. At the break, the Falcons held a comfortable 38-26 lead.
The Scarlet Hawks came out with some fight in the second half, trimming the lead to single digits early on. But a key and-one fast break layup from Verhagen pushed the lead back to 45-33 and stopped the momentum shift. Verhagen then stole a pass off solid defensive pressure and quickly transitioned to Merlo, who converted a layup to maintain the Falcons' cushion.
Junior Jack Fritz (Columbus, Wis.) also got in the scoring column, finishing a layup on a pass from Verhagen, and the Falcons continued to respond to Illinois Tech's runs. Logan Landers (Cedarburg, Wis.), Zach Leahy (West Dundee, Ill.), and Eggemeyer all scored in quick succession to extend CUW's lead to 59-44 with just under nine minutes remaining.
The Falcons remained in control, as Leahy and Landers hit back-to-back layups to keep the lead at 63-47 with 7:20 left. Eggemeyer then put together another key run, scoring four straight points on two jumpers to push the advantage to 68-53.
With the lead secured, CUW closed out the game with aggressive defense and clutch free throw shooting, finishing with a 79-60 win.
Verhagen led all scorers with 27 points, also contributing a team-high five assists, four steals, and six rebounds. Landers turned in an impressive 18-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Merlo added 10 points and five rebounds. Eggemeyer had a perfect shooting night, going 6-for-6 from the floor to finish with a career-high 13 points. Sutton also had a standout performance, dishing out a season-high four assists.
"We came out with a great defensive effort to start the game and then closed the game with that same intensity" remarked head coach Shawn Cassidy regarding his team's victory.
Defensively, the Falcons held Illinois Tech to just 36.2% shooting from the field and dominated the boards with a 31-20 rebound advantage. CUW's bench outscored IIT's 22-13, providing a major boost in key moments.
Looking ahead, the Falcons will next take on Edgewood College at the R. John Buuck Fieldhouse.
