Men's Basketball Continues Hot Streak With Win Over Stars

MILWAUKEE (WLCSports.com) - Junior Ryan Broeckel (Chilton, Wis.) and senior Simeon Strauss (Chicago, Ill.) each posted double-doubles to lead first-place Wisconsin Lutheran College to an 84-63 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference win over Dominican on Saturday at the Time of Grace Center.

The Warriors (10-6, 8-2 NACC) sprinted out to an 11-2 lead just over three minutes into action, forcing an early Stars' (5-10, 1-8 NACC) timeout. DU responded with a 12-2 scoring run to take its first lead of the game with 13:35 remaining in the first half. Junior Jacob Hefle (Germantown, Wis.) gave WLC the lead back for good at 18-16 on a three-pointer at the 9:57 mark. Wisconsin Lutheran later used a 15-4 scoring run to take a first-half high 14-point lead with 2:45 left, before maintaining a double-digit advantage of 38-27 at halftime.

The Warriors scored the first six points out of halftime to open up a 17-point lead of 44-27, forcing another Dominican timeout. WLC's lead climbed over 20 points for the first time behind a 9-0 scoring run as senior Trevor Stiede (Pulaski, Wis.) netted six points during the stretch. The Stars answered with seven straight points to trim their deficit down to 15 points at 57-42 with 11:41 remaining. An 8-0 run by Wisconsin Lutheran brought the lead back up to 23 points less than two minutes later after a layup from Broeckel. The Warriors' lead never dipped below 19 points over the final 6:24, and reached a game-high 24 points for the first time following a Stiede three-pointer to make it 76-52 with 4:32 left.

Broeckel finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds for his third straight double-double and eighth of the season. Junior Grayson Goetz (Aurora, Ill.) stuffed with box score with 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Strauss added his first career double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Hefle also tallied 10 points. 

Wisconsin Lutheran, which shot an even 50 percent in the second half, finished the game shooting 48.6 percent (36-for-74). The Warriors grabbed a season-high 47 rebounds and out-scored DU 28-11 in second chance points.

Jared Bandi scored a team-high 16 points off the bench to lead three players in double figures for Dominican, which shot 44.1 percent (26-for-59) for the game.

WLC travels to Hancock, Michigan on Wednesday for its final non-conference game of the season against Finlandia (3-14). Tip-off time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT. Live coverage links will be available at WLCSports.com.