A big night from the free throw line and a clutch performance down the stretch from Chris Golden propelled the Vikings to a 74-68 win over Arrowhead in the 2011-2012 season opener.
Arrowhead came out hot in the first quarter, knocking down four three-pointers to take an 18-10 lead. In the second quarter, it was Wisco's turn to hit from downtown. The Vikings hit four threes in the first 2:30 of the second quarter and took their first lead of the night, 23-22, on sophomore CJ Polk's triple from the corner. The rest of the quarter was a back-and-forth affair, and the Vikings took a 34-31 lead into the break on Zach Ginster's three-pointer just before the buzzer.
The two teams continued to battle in the third quarter, as neither side led by more than three points. Wisco stretched its lead to 5 at 65-60 on two Ginster free throws with just over two minutes left. But the Warhawks converted two free throws of their own and drilled a key three-pointer to tie the game. After Emilio Lopez sank two from the line to put the Vikings back in front, Arrowhead answered with another clutch triple to take a 68-67 lead with 1:22 to play. However, Wisco did all the scoring from that point forward. Chris Golden hit a difficult floater in the lane to put the Vikings on top for good at 69-68. After Arrowhead missed on the other end, Golden grabbed the rebound and was fouled, and calmly sank two free throws to give the Vikings a 71-68 advantage. Andy DeNoyer and Deiondre Cunningham knocked down free throws the rest of the way to provide the final margin and give Wisco their 32nd consecutive win on their home floor.
Chris Golden led the way with 25 points. He also added 2 steals. Emilio Lopez recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Deiondre Cunningham came up just short of a double-double, with 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Vikings shot an impressive 29-35 (82.9%) from the free throw line and outrebounded the taller Warhawks by 10, 40-30.
The Vikings open conference play with their longest road trip of the year. They travel to Beaver Dam on Thursday, December 1 to face the Golden Beavers in a 7:30 PM game.
| Arrowhead | 18 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 68 |
| Wisconsin Lutheran | 10 | 24 | 16 | 24 | 74 |
| Wisco Scoring | Category Leaders | ||
| Chris Golden | 25 | Rebounds | |
| Deiondre Cunningham | 12 | Emilio Lopez | 10 |
| Emilio Lopez | 10 | Assists | |
| Andy DeNoyer | 8 | Chris Golden | 1 |
| Zach Ginster | 7 | Emilio Lopez | 1 |
| CJ Polk | 7 | Zach Ginster | 1 |
| Larry Moore | 4 | Steals | |
| Ken Smith | 1 | Emilio Lopez | 3 |
| Blocked Shots | |||
| Emilio Lopez | 1 | ||
| Charges Taken | |||
| Andy DeNoyer | 1 | ||