November 15, 2021 | by Taylor Pill

LEAD

MILWAUKEE -- The Sabercats are improving in the midst of a rigorous early-season schedule, but they still fell by 25 points Saturday night at MSOE.

Caleb Moultrie had a team-leading 15 points while Aaron Sanders scored 13, but MSOE's depth was just too much to handle.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 53-78 MSOE
• Venue: Kern Center, Milwaukee School of Engineering
• Location: Milwaukee
• Attendance: 111
• Records: MBU (0-4), MSOE (2-1)

STORY

The Raiders began to separate themselves in the middle stages of the first half, running out to a 10-point lead eight minutes into the game. Sanders scored 10 in the first half for Maranatha but MSOE went 12 deep into their bench, putting up 16 bench points in the first half to accompany 23 from the starting five.

The Raiders forced the Sabercats to shoot just 33 percent from the floor (25 percent from downtown) in the first half, and MBU turned it over 12 times compared to just four from MSOE.

Going into halftime, the Sabercats were down 22-39 and the Raiders looked in control.

But Maranatha improved in the second half despite their slow start, narrowing the margin to just eight points (31-39) in the second act. Moultrie found a rhythm from distance, going 4-7 from three-point range, and Mike Mertes bounced off the bench to score six in the second half (nine on the night). But MSOE was too balanced, as 14 different Raiders put points on the board through the last 20 minutes.

Ethan Cooper joined the starting five after returning to the roster in the previous game - a loss at Cardinal Stritch. Cooper stayed relatively quiet on the night, though, scoring just one point to add to two rebounds, one assist, and one block.

All in all, the Sabercats showed that they aren't afraid of some big opponents in a brutal schedule early on in the season. And their marked improvement in the second half inside the Kern Center could be a sign of better things to come.

"It was nice to see that we've taken a few steps forward, even though the box score doesn't show it," said Coach Joel Borchardt after the game. "Coach [Brian] Miller has a very good team with a lot of experience, and they just overpowered us tonight. We did see some good things moving forward, so that's good to see at this point. It was tough to not have Jed [Mayhak] out there tonight, and Malachi [Herbster] had limited minutes because of injury, but it was good to see other guys step up and give us good minutes. But it was good to take some steps forward and we hope to continue that as we move through the season."

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Maranatha Starters: 5- Sanders, 15- Davis, 20- Cooper, 21- Moultrie, 24- Herbster // MSOE starters: 10- Pitrof, 25- Vanselow, 32- Beekman, 34- Miklowski, 35- Dillard 

STATS

• Moultrie: Team-high 15 PTS
• Sanders: 13 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST
• Josh Davis: 7 PTS, 9 REB
• Cooper: First start of the season
• Mertes: 9 PTS
• MSOE: 15 different student-athletes with points
• Last time: The Raiders won 90-71 in Watertown last season
• Series: MSOE leads the all-time series 45-30

OPPONENTS

• MSOE competes in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NCAA DIII)
• MSOE finished an abbreviated 2020-21 season with a 6-7 record

NEXT

The Sabercats open a three-game homestand Tuesday night with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Rockford. Find details at mbusabercats.com/schedule.