SUPERIOR, Wis. - The UW-River Falls men's basketball fell in a tight battle against Concordia College during its 2023-24 season opener Friday evening, losing 57-56 in the opening game of the UW-Superior Merrill Thompson Classic.

The tightly contested game featured 20 lead changes, and a Concordia field goal with 23 seconds left in regulation gave the Cobbers the win as they shut down the Falcons during their last possession. 

UWRF shot 23-of-59 from the field and 6-of-25 from beyond the arc, compared to the Cobbers' 40 field goal percentage. UWRF led 38-36 in rebounds, paced eight from Zac Johnson.

In his debut as a Falcon, junior transfer and River Falls native Zac Johnson led UWRF with 27 points, shooting 11-of-18 from the field. He was trailed by Jack Leifker's career-high 14 points. 

In the front end of the first half, UWRF twice gained its largest lead of the game at nine points. A Zac Johnson jumper at 10:35 gave the Falcons a 17-8 lead, but for the rest of the half, Concordia outscored UWRF 17-7 to earn a 25-24 halftime lead.

The second half was back and forth with both teams totaling 32 points. Neither team led by any more than five points, which came from a Logan Jewabny jumper three and a half minutes in. With just over two minutes left in the contest, a Zac Johnson jumper gave UWRF a 56-55 lead, which was answered by a basket Concordia to steal back the lead late in the game. Upon a Falcon timeout with 20 seconds left, they were unable to convert a pair of tries and were forced to foul before the Cobbers ran out the clock.

UWRF, now 0-1 overall, is back in action tomorrow against UW-Superior at 4 p.m.
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