MILWAUKEE – There was no better time to snap a three-game losing streak than tonight. MSOE men's basketball needed a win to stay in the hunt for a playoff home game when they took on a No. 24 Benedictine team that came into tonight not having lost in their last eight contests. It took five more minutes than usual, but the Raiders took down the league leaders by one in overtime.

RESULT IN OVERTIME
#24 Benedictine – 64
MSOE – 65

HOW IT HAPPENED
Neither offense was working particularly well in the first half of tonight's ballgame. While MSOE (12-10, 9-8 NACC) held an eight-point lead over No. 24 Benedictine (18-4, 14-3 NACC) heading into the half, a lead that was helped out by the Raiders outscoring the Eagles 10-0 in points off turnovers, the action really didn't start until the inbounds to open up the second frame. Each team went from shooting in the 30 percent range from the field in the opening 20 minutes to making their shots close to 50 percent of the time. BU went from going 1-of-12 from behind the arc to making three of six, a figure that helped them get back into the ballgame early in the second. The Red & White also found themselves in foul trouble early, with Benedictine earning the bonus with 10:27 left to play. This led to 13 Eagle tallies from the charity stripe, but the Raiders were able to offset that with some smart basketball down the stretch. MSOE held onto the lead in the second half up until about the six minute mark, after which a back and forth affair ensued. After a Matthew Kirmse layup with 1:28 left, Benedictine hit four straight free throws to tie the game with just 37 seconds left on the clock. An Eagles turnover gave the Red & White a chance to win at the buzzer, but a Kirmse jumper refused to fall which gave us free basketball. It was a low scoring overtime session with a combined total of 12 shots taken, but it was the last one that counted. After a BU basket at 1:41 not a single player scored until the game winner. With just two seconds left on the clock, Michael Pitrof stepped up and took a fadeaway jumper to give the good guys the single point advantage. The Benedictine inbounds was then intercepted by Kirmse to seal the deal and pull the Raiders back up into the fourth seed with three games left to go.

RAIDER REMARKS

• Senior Matthew Kirmse became just the fifth Raider to score 1,500 points when he added point No. 20 and 21 to his game total in the second half.
• There was a total of eight lead changes and nine ties in the 45 minutes played.

MSOE STAT TRACKER
Points – Matthew Kirmse (21)
Rebounds – Matthew Kirmse (12)
Assists – Sammy Linn (3)
Steals – Josh Herzog (3)
Blocks – Ty Miklowski (1)

WHO'S ON DECK
The Raiders will have another huge game on Saturday when they welcome Concordia Wisconsin to Hotchkin Arena. Head to the game early to celebrate our outgoing seniors with tipoff to follow around 2:00 pm.