Box Score BOXSCORE

LISLE, Ill. - The Benedictine University men's basketball team used a big second half rally to post a 54-51 victory over the Milwaukee School of Engineering in the Northern Athletics Conference opener for both teams on Tuesday evening.

MSOE led for a majority of the opening 20 minutes. Benedictine nabbed the lead for the first time as Mark Pace hit consecutive shots within :20 of each other to jump ahead 17-14. MSOE did not allow any points in the final 3:44 of the half, closing on an 11-0 run to turn a 23-21 deficit into a 32-23 lead at the break. The visiting Raiders shot 56.5 percent from the floor in the first half.

The momentum carried over to start the second half as the lead ballooned to 14 points at 38-24 after back-to-back layups from Victor Bande and Jaren Singh. Benedictine did not make a field goal in a span of nearly 8:30 from the end of the first up until David Bernard finished a three-point play in transition on an assist from Jamison Montgomery with 15:15 to go.

The Eagles slowly chipped away at the deficit, scratching to within three points at 42-39 on a triple from Mark Pace just past the midway point of the half. Two free throws from Michael Woolf tied the contest with 5:20 remaining at 45 aside. Alex Edmondson handed Benedictine its first lead since the first half at 48-47 by connecting on a three-pointer with 4:46 left in the game. Woolf dropped in a layup moments later to stretch the advantage to three points.

MSOE retook the lead with 2:09 to play on a layup from Michael Ricciardi at 51-50, but another three from Pace, who hit three in the game, put the Eagles ahead 53-51 with 1:27 remaining. The Raiders turned the ball over twice and missed a three for the time in the closing moments.

Benedictine (2-2, 1-0) held MSOE to just 19 points in the second half and held a 44-34 edge on the glass. The Eagles shot just 35.7 percent (20-56) for the game, but limited MSOE to just 21.4 percent in the second half.

Pace came off the bench to pace Benedictine with a game high 14 points as the only player in double figures. David Bernard and Alex Edmondson added nine points each. Andy Crutchfield and Michael Woolf each reeled in eight rebounds. Oren Bloom led MSOE with 10 points.

The favorites of the North Division, Concordia University Wisconsin (4-1, 1-0), visits the Rice Center on Saturday afternoon at 4:15 p.m.