LISLE, Ill. – Senior Gabe Wear turning in a career performance plus the No. 5 seed MSOE shooting over 53 percent from the field equaled out to be quite the night for the Raiders. The Red & White went at it with top seeded Benedictine and ended the Eagles NACC season in their own house as the Raiders take down BU to move onto the NACC tournament championship game.

RESULTS
No. 5 Seed MSOE – 74
No. 1 Seed Benedictine – 70

HOW IT HAPPENED
No. 5 seed MSOE (15-12, 10-10 NACC) had already proven they were capable of defeating top seeded Benedictine (20-6, 16-4 NACC) heading into Thursday night's semifinal matchup, having beaten them in overtime inside Hotchkin Arena just two weeks ago. But just in case there was any doubt, they decided to do it again this evening at their place. The Raiders led virtually wire to wire in a game where the Eagles only had one lead on the evening, a one-point advantage coming at 18:27 in the second period. However, even with big Raider runs in each frame, the scores at halftime and at the end of the ballgame were a little too close for comfort. MSOE outscored Benedictine by just three points after one and by just a single tally in the last 20 minutes. The Raiders held strong though thanks to a variety of factors. The Red & White outshot the Eagles 53.1 to 47.3 percent from the field and held a seven-percentage point advantage from three-point land. BU dominated in both points within the paint and second chance points, but the Raiders bench was once again crucial to keeping them in the game with a 15-9 advantage over their opponents. Having survived one big run to close out a game on Tuesday against Lakeland, the Raiders weathered an 11-4 Eagles run with 50 seconds left to knock off the top team in the tournament, giving themselves a chance to play for the championship.

MSOE STAT TRACKER
Points – Gabe Wear (23)
Rebounds – Michael Pitrof (9)
Assists – Michael Pitrof (5)
Steals – Michael Pitrof (3)
Blocks – Three with one

WHO'S ON DECK
The Raiders will now move on to take on Concordia Wisconsin in the NACC tournament championship game on Saturday. The Red & White will once again be the away team when the game tips off in Mequon starting at 7:00 pm.

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