Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. - For the second consecutive contest to open the season, the Benedictine University men's basketball team fell just short, dropping a 79-76 decision to the University of Dubuque at the Carthage College Men's Basketball Classic.

The contest was tight throughout the entire 40 minutes with neither side leading by more than nine points. John Dodson hit a jumper with 16:04 to go in the first that put the Eagles up 6-5. Benedictine did not trail the rest of the half, leading by as many as seven points on three occasions. The Eagles held a 36-32 lead at the break.

Benedictine continued to hold the lead in the second half, moving ahead by nine points with 12:09 to go when Kane Steger hit a jumper to make the score 56-47. Dubuque (4-0) embarked on a run of 11-1 to take the lead for the first time since early on at 58-57 with 7:14 left.

Four consecutive points from Benedictine put the Eagles ahead 61-58 with less than six to go but Dubuque netted eight straight points to go ahead by five and led by as many as seven with with less than 30 seconds to play. Michael Blaszczyk hit a three and Michael Woolf scored five to claw the Eagles within three with just :02 left. Dale Renshaw posted a steal but missed a three to tie the game at the buzzer.

"We got off to a slow start but hung in there early," head coach Keith Bunkenburg said. "We can't put 40 minutes together yet and need to execute better in the last 10 minutes of the game."

Benedictine shot 48 percent in the game but hit just five three-pointers on 20 attempts. Woolf scored 22 points while Tim McGinty added 12 and Steger a career best 10 off the bench.

Benedictine (0-2) will meet the loser of Carthage and Alma in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.