Box Score
Box score
MILWAUKEE - Senior guard Nate Bauer (Lake
Mills, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran) knocked down four key free throws
late to help lead the Wisconsin Lutheran College men's basketball
team past Benedictine 58-54 Wednesday at the Recreation Complex.
The win was the fourth straight Northern Athletics Conference
victory for WLC.
Wisconsin Lutheran held the lead for the entire second half of
the game, but had to hold on in the end to earn its fourth straight
conference win. Benedictine cut the WLC lead to 54-52 with 1:19
left in the game and had a shot to tie with less than 30 seconds
remaining, but the WLC defense stood strong and Bauer made 4-of-4
from the line down the stretch to seal the victory for the
Warriors.
It was the visiting Eagles who started strong as they scored the
first five points of the game before Wisconsin Lutheran responded
with and 11-0 run to lead 11-5 with 14:28 remaining in the game's
opening half. The Warriors held a first-half best seven-point lead
at 20-13 at the 8:21 mark, but Benedictine answered with a 16-5 run
to hold a 29-25 lead with just over two minutes left in the half.
The Warriors made the final first half run as they scored the last
seven points, including a three-pointer from senior Tim Demuth
(Franksville, Wis./Racine Lutheran) to take a 32-29 lead into the
break.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first 20 minutes of play as
the Warriors connected on 50 percent (14-for-28) of their
first-half shots, while the Eagles countered with 44.4 percent
(12-for-27) first-half shooting. Benedictine's Michael Woolf had 11
first-half points to lead all scorers, while Demuth led WLC with
eight.
The Warriors quickly pushed their lead to eight points early in
the second half and led by a game-high nine points at 46-37 with
10:57 left in the game. That lead hovered between seven and nine
points until BenU cut the deficit to three at 52-49 with 4:32 left
in the game. The Eagles cut the lead down to two, but Bauer's
clutch free throws secured the 58-54 win.
The Warriors cooled off shooting the basketball in the second
half, but did create many more scoring opportunities thanks to 12
offensive rebounds and only two turnovers. For the game, Wisconsin
Lutheran shot 36.1 percent (22-for-61), while BenU hit 43.1 percent
(22-for-51) of its shots. The Warriors did connect on 81.8 percent
(9-for-11) of their free throws, all of which came in the second
half.
Bauer led the way for WLC as he scored a team-best 13 points,
including 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Demuth finished with 11
points and a team-best four assists, while senior Julion Griffin
(Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) added 10 points and a
team-best eight rebounds.
Benedictine (3-12, 1-5 NAC) was led by Tim McGinty's
double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Woolf added 15 points
and nine rebounds for the Eagles.
Wisconsin Lutheran (7-9, 4-3 NAC) looks to extend its conference
winning streak to five games Saturday when it hosts Marian (7-7,
3-3 NAC) at 4:15 p.m. at the Recreation Complex. Live audio, stats,
and video will be provided for the game and the links can be found
at wlcsports.com.
