Box Score
Milwaukee, Wis. – Hosting the Calumet College of St. Joseph Crimson Wave in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference(CCAC) Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals, the Cardinal Stritch University Wolves men’s basketball team dismantled the Crimson Wave, 91-59, to advance to Saturday’s championship game.
The Wolves got off to a hot start as they opened up the game with an intensity that playoffs seem to bring out in good teams. Riding the feeling, Stritch exploded out to a 19-4 lead in the first 7:30 of the game. The Wolves were equally tough on defense as the Crimson Wave didn’t score their first basket of the game until the 14:14 mark of the opening half.
By halftime, the Wolves had everything under control as they entered the break up 21 points at 43-22. Using a balanced offensive attack that led Stritch to hit on 53 percent of their shots in the first period, four players had eight points in the opening half. The offensive production could be traced back to the play of Nate Lemmens (Rhinelander, Wis.) as the senior had eight assists in the half alone and would total 11 for a new career high.
The second half would work much the same, for Stritch, as the first half did. The offense continued to pour in the points as the Wolves led by as much as 30 points through much of the remainder of the contest. Ultimately, they would finish the game with a 32-point margin of victory.
Beside Lemmen’s and his career-high 11 assists, Stritch got 19 points from Trey Triplett (Lisle, Ill.), 18 points from Brandon D’Amico (Geneva, Ill.) and 13 from Navjot Singh (Mundelein, Ill.).
The Crimson Wave would be led by Robert Pogue (Hammond, Ind.) and his 22 points. Wilfredo Escobar (Gary, Ind.) added 17 points in the loss as well.
The Crimson Wave’s season ends at 12-20 while the No. 9 Wolves will continue their season as they improve to 27-4 and increase their nation-leading winning streak to 19 games. The Wolves will host the CCAC Championship game on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. The Wolves will face the Judson University Eagles in the championship round.