Wagner's Career-High Vaults Warriors To Program's Best Start

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (WLCSports.com) - Sophomore Austin Wagner (Jackson, Wis.) scored a career-high 18 points off the bench as Wisconsin Lutheran College improved its record to a program-best 8-1 with a 79-62 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference road win over Marian on Saturday at Sadoff Gymnasium.

The Warriors (8-1, 4-0 NACC), who won their seventh consecutive game, never trailed en route to their ninth straight win over the Sabres (0-9, 0-5 NACC) in the all-time series.

WLC broke a 5-5 tie less than three minutes in with a 14-0 scoring run, its largest of the game, behind six points from Wagner. MU came within eight points twice, but a jumper from Wagner helped Wisconsin Lutheran hold a double-digit lead for the final 7:10 of the first half.

A 12-3 run pushed the Warriors' lead to 39-20 at the 2:54 mark, and a three from senior Jacob Hefle (Germantown, Wis.) just before the opening-half buzzer doubled WLC's advantage to 44-22 at halftime. Wagner led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, as Wisconsin Lutheran shot 53.8 percent from the floor.

The Warriors' second-half lead hovered between 19 and 24 points for the first 10 minutes. Two free throws from senior Ryan Broeckel (Chilton, Wis.) extended the margin to a game-high 25 points at 63-38 with 10:33 left.

The two teams alternated scoring over the final 8:50, including exchanging made field goals for the last 5:23 of the contest. Senior Grayson Goetz (Aurora, Ill.) netted 14 of his 16 points in the second half for WLC, which maintained its 53 percent field goal percentage.

Wagner paced all scorers with a career-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Goetz finished with 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting and six assists. Broeckel tallied 12 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while Stoltz also added 12 points. Wisconsin Lutheran shot a season-high 53.6 percent (30-for-56) from the floor, the third game this season shooting at least 50 percent.  The Warriors also shot a season-best 92.3 percent (12-of-13) from the charity stripe.

Kael Stulo and JeanLuc Wilson scored 12 points each for Marian, which shot 44.6 percent (25-for-56) from the field. 

WLC plays its final game before Christmas on Tuesday when it travels to Chicago for a 7:15 p.m. NACC matchup against Illinois Tech (3-6, 2-2 NACC). Live coverage links will be available at WLCSports.com.