PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Benedictine University shot 54.4% for the game, too hot of a pace for the Lakeland University men's basketball team to keep up with in a 98-84 loss Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game.
The Muskies led for a time early and hung around within striking distance for much of the second half before the Eagles stretched the lead out late. Benedictine won its second straight this week and improved to 3-6 overall and 2-2 in the NACC, while Lakeland dropped to 1-8 overall and 1-3 in conference.
The Muskies led by five points on two occasions early, including 18-13 after a layup by
Isaiah Hammond (
Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) with 13 minutes, 5 seconds left in the first half. Hammond scored 10 of Lakeland's first 18 points, and the Muskies also made four three-pointers early, with one by
Cliff McCray (
Sr.-Madison, Wis.) good for a 26-25 lead with 9:45 remaining in the half.
Lakeland matched Benedictine's shooting to that point but soon cooled off, and the Eagles went on a 22-6 run over the next nine minutes. Pat Mayfield scored 13 straight points, including three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt, and Tanner Resch's three-point play pushed the Benedictine lead to 47-32 with 51 seconds left in the half.
Gage Cornell (
Jr.-Manitowoc, Wis.) hit a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to cut the Eagles' lead to 48-37 at the break. Benedictine appeared ready to blow the game open when Dominick Ciegotura's two free throws capped seven straight points and gave the guests a 65-47 lead with 13:02 to play, but Lakeland stayed close with the three-pointer. Cornell,
Emmitt Konieczny (
Fr.-Marshfield, Wis.) and
Camren McIntosh (
So.-Racine, Wis.) all hit triples, and McIntosh's cut the deficit to 69-59 with 9:30 left.
The Eagles came up with enough answers down the stretch to stay in control, and built the lead back up to 18 several times down the stretch. Tanner Resch scored 15 of his 24 points in the final 20 minutes, including 13 of Benedictine's last 19 points.
Hammond scored a game-high 25 points, making 6 of 11 from the field and 13 of 16 free throws. He also added seven rebounds and five assists. McCray scored 18 points and
Peyton Mrotek (
Jr.-Luxemburg, Wis.) added 12 points. Konieczny added nine points. Lakeland finished shooting 45.2%, making 28 of 62 shots including a season-high 14 three-pointers made in 33 tries (42.4%).
Resch finished with 24 points for Benedictine, which made 31 of 57 field goals plus 32 of 40 foul shots (80.0%). Mayfield also scored 22 points and Noah Mason added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Lakeland is on the road for its next game Wednesday when it travels to face Rockford University at 7 p.m. in Rockford, Ill.
