A 24-point first half deficit proved to be too much to overcome for the Lakeland College men's basketball team in an 87-74 loss to Concordia University Wisconsin Tuesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies shot 67.7% in the second half but couldn't come all the way back in the battle for position in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Concordia earned a split of the season series between the teams and improved to 10-8 overall and 8-6 in the NACC, while Lakeland dropped a game behind the Falcons at 7-7 in conference play and 11-8 overall.

Concordia was the more consistent team throughout, shooting 51.6% for the night and better than 51% in both halves. The Falcons also took advantage of turnover issues for the Muskies, who turned the ball over 20 times.

Concordia never trailed in the game, jumping out to an 11-2 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes and continuing to build the lead, eventually going ahead 43-19 late in the first half. The Falcons led 45-23 at halftime, but almost every Lakeland-Concordia game sees the trailing team make a run, and it happened here in the second half.  

The Muskies needed just over 10 minutes to chop a 22-point halftime deficit to five. After shooting just 29.6% in the first half, Lakeland came out blazing hot, making 16 of its first 21 field goals in the second half.

Travis Kell (Jr.-Madison, Wis.) hit a short jumper to cut Concordia's lead to 57-52 with 9:24 left, but the Muskies would get no closer. Tanner Hackl (Sr.-West De Pere, Wis.) hit a three-pointer to make it 71-64 with 4:36 left, his eighth consecutive make as he scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, but James Mitchell scored layups the next two CUW possessions and Lakeland never got closer than nine points again.

Brandon James (So.-Rockford, Ill.) added 17 points and Pat McDonald (Fr.-Port Washington, Wis.) scored 13 for the Muskies, who finished the game hitting 29 of 58 shots (50.0%). Lakeland did most of its damage inside the three-point line, making 5 of 16 from long range (31.3%).

Taron Edwards scored 22 points and added seven rebounds to lead Concordia, which made 32 of 62 field goals and 17 of 23 from the free throw line (73.9%). The Falcons made all six of their three-pointers in the first half and also outrebounded the Muskies 35-31.

Concordia moved into third place in the NACC and leads a jumbled pack of six teams separated by a total of two games. Lakeland now sits in a tie for fifth with Rockford University with six regular season games remaining.

The Muskies now face a tough task on Saturday when they travel to face undefeated Benedictine (Ill.) University at 2 p.m. in Lisle, Ill. The Eagles are currently ranked third in the latest NCAA Division III D3hoops.com poll.