Playing the tenth-ranked offense in points per game, the Dominican University men's basketball team could not keep pace with the Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors on the road in Milwaukee Saturday afternoon, falling 85-69 to slip to 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play.
 
After the Stars opened the first half on a 14-3 run over the game's first six minutes, the Warriors used a 12-0 run of their own and the back and forth first half was on.  The teams traded the lead five times throughout the opening 20 minutes with the Warriors taking a 39-38 lead into the locker room at the break after Dominican's Nick Lavere scored the final four points of the half.
 
In the second half, Wisconsin Lutheran scored the first 11 points of the period to start to pull away, leading by as many as 23 along the way.
 
"We started the game energized and focused," commented Mark White, the Stars' head men's basketball coach. "However, we weren't able to sustain that energy and focus throughout the game."
 
After shooting over 40-percent from the field, including hitting at an 8-for-18 clip from three-point distance, the Stars shot just 11-for-30 from the field in the second half, shooting just under 39 percent for the game.
 
Lavere and Tyler Guest tied for team-high honors, scoring 14 points apiece to lead five in double-digits.  Luke McDermott chipped in 12 points, hitting on three of his six attempts from long range, while Dennis Handy and Jackson Smith scored ten points apiece.
 
The Warriors shot over 51 percent from the field for the game, connecting on 31 of 60 field goal attempts.  Zach Zuleger scored a game-high 19 points, going 9-for-11 from field, while Andrew Bruggink added 15 points.
 
The Stars will take a break from conference play, traveling to Greenville, Illinois, to take on the Greenville University Panthers on Tuesday before returning to River Forest to host the Knox College Prairie Fire on Friday evening at the Igini Sports Forum.