The historic season for the Falcon men's basketball team came to an end on Friday evening as they fell to Illinois Wesleyan, 83-76, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This marks the first appearance for the Falcons in the 61-team tournament.
On the other side of the floor, the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan made their 20th appearance in school history and have posted 42-19 record in the NCAA Tournament. The Titans have won five of their last six opening round contests and are 15-4 overall in the tournament's first round.
The Falcons jumped ahead 17-8 and carried the lead for the first 15 minutes. The first half surge was sparked by Ollie White (Mound, MN, Mound-Westonka HS) leading the way with 10 first half points, followed by Shane Manor (Altoona, UW-Superior) with nine in the first 20 minutes.
The Titans grabbed their first lead in the final four minutes of the first half as they shot 66.7 percent behind the arc in the first half. Once again the three-point shooting was the Achilles heel for the Falcons as the Titans finished with 11 three-pointers en route to their third consecutive opening round victory.
Jake Voeltz (River Falls, River Falls HS) ended his illustrious career for the Falcons with another huge night, scoring 21 points and 11 rebounds, both game-highs. The senior also had two blocks and a steal while going 11-12 from the charity stripe. Manor and White each finished in double digits with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Aaron Anderson (Stillwater, MN, Stillwater HS), Brian Kimble (Stevenson Ranch, CA, Coll. of Canyons JC), and Jontae Koonkaew (Apple Valley, MN, Apple Valley HS) each finished with eight points in the season finale.
The sharp-shooting Titans had all five starters finish in double-digits and were led by Sean Johnson with 20 points. They finished the game shooting 52.4 percent from three-point range.
The University of St. Thomas Schoenecker Arena played host to the Falcons first and final loss this year as they opened up the new facility back in November against the Tommies.
The 2010-11 season will go down as one of the greatest in UW-River Falls history as this team was the first to make the WIAC Championship game and advance to the NCAA Tournament. They were ranked in the top 25 for most of the season, climbing as high as No. 9 in the nation at one point. The Falcons were ranked No. 22 this week.
The Falcons received great fan support all year from the students and they were out in great numbers on Friday in the opening round game at University of St. Thomas. The announced crowd of 1,500 was primarily rooting for the red and white as they watched their Falcons make history in their first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Photo of Jake Voeltz (32) by GSmithSports.com.
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