Box Score
Box score
RIVER FOREST, Ill. - The Wisconsin Lutheran
men's basketball team saw its postseason hopes fade Thursday night
when it fell to the Dominican University Stars by a score of 70-59
in the final Northern Athletics Conference game for both clubs at
the Igini Sports Forum.
The Warriors, who needed a big road win to launch themselves
into the 2010 NAC Men's Basketball Tournament, saw themselves
trailing by 10 points, 50-40, with 10:26 remaining in the game. A
late rally cut the deficit to four with just 2:41 left, but the
Warriors could inch no closer as time expired.
Wisconsin Lutheran, despite heading into the locker room at
halftime trailing by 10, led for most of the first half. The
Warriors, in front 22-16 at the 7:54 mark, hit a wall and were held
scoreless for nearly five minutes while Dominican scored 15
unanswered points to take a 31-22 advantage. Senior forward Kyle
Madson (Madison, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran), who scored 10 of his 14
points in the first half, broke the drought with a lay-up with 3:22
remaining. The Stars took a 37-27 lead into the second half.
Wisconsin Lutheran shot 41.7 percent (10-for-24) and committed
14 turnovers, compared to six for Dominican in the first half.
Senior Ben Ziesemer (New Ulm, Minn./Minnesota Valley Lutheran) was
3-for-4 from three-point range as all nine of his points were
scored in the first half. The Stars shot 44.1 percent (15-for-34)
from the field and were aided by 13 first-half points from Milos
Mandic.
A couple of three-pointers gave Dominican its largest lead of
the game (16 points) just 1:05 into the second half. The Warriors,
who were led by sophomore forward Alex Merbach (Kaukauna, Wis./Fox
Valley Lutheran), responded with a 9-0 run to put them back into
contention. Merbach accounted for all nine points, including two
rebounds and a three-pointer to bring WLC back within seven. With
52 seconds remaining, freshman Tim Demuth (Franksville, Wis./Racine
Lutheran) knocked down a triple to make it 65-59, but Dominican
sunk five of its final six free throws to clinch the victory.
Merbach paced Wisconsin Lutheran with 19 points on 7-for-8
shooting and 11 rebounds. Madson finished with 14 points and
Ziesemer dished out a game-high six assists to go along with his
nine points. The Warriors shot 38.9 percent (21-for-54) from the
field for the game.
Dominican (9-15, 7-9 NAC) was led by Marquis Turley and Milos
Mandic, who scored 22 and 17 points, respectively. Kevin Blackowicz
added 13 points and Jovan Turley had a team-high 10 rebounds. The
Stars, who received the eighth and final seed in the NAC
Tournament, finished with a 39.7 percent (23-for-58) field goal
percentage and were 88.9 percent (16-for-18) from the free-throw
line.
Wisconsin Lutheran (8-15, 7-9 NAC) will play its final game of
the 2009-10 season Saturday at the Recreation Complex when it hosts
Maranatha Baptist Bible College in a NAC North/South Challenge game
at 4:15 p.m.
