MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- All four home teams posted victories Wednesday as the 2025 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Men's Basketball Tournament got underway.
NACC regular-season champion Wisconsin Lutheran, the top seed and defending tournament champion, defeated No. 8-seed Rockford, 86-57, while No. 2-seed St. Norbert sidelined No. 7-seed Aurora, 83-72, No. 3-seed MSOE topped No. 6-seed Marian, 91-74, and No. 4-seed Concordia Wisconsin dispatched No. 5-seed Concordia Chicago, 82-68.
Wisconsin Lutheran will host Concordia Wisconsin in one of Friday's semifinal games, while St. Norbert will entertain MSOE. Both games are slated for 7 p.m. tip-offs.
Friday's winners advance to Sunday's NACC Tournament championship game.
The Warriors and Falcons have met twice previously in the NACC Tournament, with CUW picking up victories in both 2011 (90-58) and 2020 (96-83). This will be the first NACC Tournament meeting between the Green Knights and the Raiders.
No. 1 Wisconsin Lutheran 86, No. 8 Rockford 57
Wisconsin Lutheran set the tone early against visiting Rockford, shooting 50.0 percent (15-of-30) from the field in the first half while holding the Regents to just 14 first-half points on 6-of-26 shooting.
Building on a 38-14 halftime lead, the Warriors extended the advantage to a game-high 33 points just past the midway point of the second half.
Ryan Broeckel, Grayson Goetz, and Jacob Stoltz each finished with a team-high 14 points to lead Wisconsin Lutheran. Broeckel made it a double-double by pulling down 19 rebounds, while Goetz had seven boards and seven assists. Sam Hans added 11 points off the bench, while Jacob Hefle made it five WLC players in double figures with 10 points.
Anthony Espensen came off the bench to post a game-high 23 points for Rockford. Espensen was 8-of-16 from the field with six 3-pointers. Micah Swanson was the only other Regent in double figures, finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds.
No. 4 Concordia Wisconsin 82, No. 5 Concordia Chicago 68
Logan Landers posted game-highs with 30 points and nine rebounds to lead the victorious Falcons.
Leading 38-31 at halftime, Concordia Wisconsin quickly pushed the lead out to 15 points. The Falcons would maintain a double-digit the rest of the way with the exception of a 45-second stretch near the midpoint of the half. The lead grew to a game-high 21 points with 4:02 to play as Matt Merlo capped a personal run of seven straight points with a 3-pointer. Merlo's seven consecutive points was part of a larger 11-0 run by the Falcons.
Merlo finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Casey Verhagen gave CUW three in double figures with 12 points and eight assists.
Aaron Brown (16), Joel Watts (11), and Darrian Williams (10) all reached double figures for the Cougars.
No. 3 MSOE 91, No. 6 Marian 74
MSOE shot a blistering 61.2 percent (30-of-49) from the floor and 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from behind the arc en route to the runaway victory.
Marian scored the game's first four points, but the Raiders responded quickly and took the lead for good on a Mason Dopirak free throw at the 16:00 mark of the first half.
MSOE led 48-36 at halftime, eventually pushing the lead to 17 points in the early moments of the second half. The Sabres mounted a charge, cutting the advantage to just seven points with 10:17 to play on a pair of free throws by Andrew Ayeni. A Dopirak 3-pointer the next time down the floor pushed the lead back to double figures, where it remained the rest of the game.
Dopirak and Donovan Carter shared game-high scoring honors with 23 points apiece. Dopirak added eight assists, while Carter was a perfect 9-of-9 from the field with three 3-pointers. He also pulled down five boards. Carson Cordelli made it three Raiders in double figures with 10 points.
Harper Krolak led five Sabres in double figures with 18 points and six rebounds. Mahlik Hall added 13 points off the bench, while Eli Vogel and Alex Vassilakis had 11 points apiece and Ayeni chipped in with 10.
No. 2 St. Norbert 83, No. 7 Aurora 72
St. Norbert jumped out to a 16-2 lead after six-and-a-half minutes on the strength of eight points from Jamison Nickolai. Aurora responded with a 9-2 run to cut the Green Knight advantage to seven points, but Nickolai responded with five consecutive points to push the St. Norbert lead back to double figures. The Spartans briefly got the lead back to single digits on a Joevonn McCottry free throw with 3:39 to play in the opening half, but the Green Knights closed the period on a 10-1 run and took a 44-26 lead into the break.
St. Norbert tacked on eight more points to open the second half, eventually pushing the lead to 31 points with 14:46 remaining. From there, Aurora outscored the Green Knights, 40-20, but the margin proved to large to overcome.
Nickolai finished with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting with six rebounds and four assists, while Brandt Wilson added 16 points and 12 rebounds. Aidan Harrington and Garrett Grzesk had 13 points apiece for the Green Knights, who finished the game shooting 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the field with 11 3-pointers.
McCottry led Aurora with a game-high 30 points on 10-of-17 shooting. He also had five rebounds and five assists. Mekhi Doby chipped in with 13 points, while Isaiah Davis had 10.
2025 NACC Men's Basketball Tournament
Each game hosted by higher seed
Quarterfinals - Wednesday, Feb. 26
No. 1 Wisconsin Lutheran 86, No. 8 Rockford 57
No. 4 Concordia Wisconsin 82, No. 5 Concordia Chicago 68
No. 3 MSOE 91, No. 6 Marian 74
No. 2 St. Norbert 83, No. 7 Aurora 72
Semifinals - Friday, Feb. 28
No. 4 Concordia Wisconsin at No. 1 Wisconsin Lutheran
No. 3 MSOE at No. 2 St. Norbert
Championship - Sunday, March 2
Semifinal winners