MILWAUKEE, Wis - The Milwaukee Area Technical College Stormer men's basketball team pulled off an improbable win on Thursday night at the Reiman Gymnasium, beating the Concordia University-Wisconsin Falcons junior varsity team, 104-102, in overtime.

The Falcons jumped out to a 43-18 lead with about nine minutes to play in the first half. Most of the damage by CUW was from Jose Alicea. Alicea had 23 points in the first ten minutes of the half as he shot 8-9 from the field and 5-6 from distance while converting two free throws. He would score 26 points in the half.

MATC would counter, going on a 14-0 run over a little more than a two minute stretch starting at the 7:24 mark of the half. Lavele Gray hit a pair of triples and Darren Perry added a three-point basket as MATC cut their deficit to ten points with just under five minutes to play in the half.

CUW would build their lead back up to 15 points following a Dane Fronek field goal. He was fouled on the make and made his free throw and then Jake Novak hit a shot with three minutes to play.

MATC would cut the lead back down to ten points at the half on a basket by Gray and a three-point basket by Jamar Fletcher with a minute to play.

The Falcons shot nearly 58% from the field in the first half and were 8-12 from behind the three-point arc. MATC managed seven more attempts from the field than CUW but made just 40% of their field goals. They were able to keep pace with CUW by hitting on six long range shots.

The Stormers were able to flip the script in the second half, though they weren't able to contain Alicea. The Stormers shot 50% from the field while attempting and making ten more shots than the Falcons. They also held CUW to 32% shooting in the half. 

MATC might've run away with the game in the second half, if not for free throws. CUW was 18-26 from the charity stripe in the second half while MATC was just 4-11.

Behind Alicea and solid free throw shooting, CUW extended their lead to 17 points with 15:38 to play in the game. MATC would go on a 10-1 run to pull to within eight points with just over 12 minutes to play. CUW was able to maintain a seven-to-ten point lead through much of the half.

MATC trailed by ten points with 4:30 to play but would go on a 9-0 run over the next 85 seconds to pull to within one point. Gray connected on two, 3-point baskets and Evan Runkel added a triple in that time span.

Still, MATC couldn't seem to get over the hump and continued to trail the rest of the half. The Stormers had the basketball with 4.4 seconds to play in regulation and were inbounding from under their basket. Gray threw the inbound pass to the left wing. Kyan Pleasant had appeared to break the wrong way but was able to recover and grab the ball near the sideline. Pleasant moved to his left and put up a contested three-point attempt. The ball went through the hoop as the buzzer sounded sending the game into overtime tied at 90.

The Falcons would lead through the majority of the overtime period and built up a five point lead midway through overtime. MATC tied the game at 99 on a Gray three-point basket with 1:23 to play. The Stormers would take their first lead of the game since they led 2-0 just 12 seconds into the game on a free throw by Runkel, giving them a 100-99 lead with about a minute to play.

Alicea erased that lead with a three-point field goal on the next possession. MATC would answer back with a Darren Perry three-pointer with 9.8 seconds remaining in the game, giving MATC a 103-102 lead.

Jason Klug brought the ball across the timeline for CUW on their ensuing possession. He attempted to pass the ball to the right elbow but Dominic Morse sailed high over the court, knocking the ball away and MATC secured it. CUW fouled Gray in going for the recovery. Gray made 1-of-2 free throws to put MATC up 104-102 with 0.8 seconds remaining. Following a CUW timeout, Braden Persinger attempted to inbound the ball from one end of the floor to the other. His pass was too high and too long and MATC was able to run out the clock for the overtime win.

The big difference in the game was turnovers. The Stormers committed just 14 turnovers while CUW had 23. MATC did a better job of turning turnovers into points as well, outscoring the Falcons 31-13 in that category.

CUW shot 48.5% from the field in the game and 60% from distance. They converted 26-of-37 free throws. MATC was 46% from the field, 37.5% from distance, and just 9-of-20 at the charity stripe. The Stormers attempted 21 more field goals and twice as many three-point fields goals as CUW in the game.

Five Stormers players scored in double figures, led by Lavele Gray with 23 points, including six 3-point baskets. Kyan Pleasant scored 21 and Evan Runkel added 20 points. Darren Perry finished with 13 points and Jarreyon Johnson just missed a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds before he fouled out of the game.

Alicea had a career night for CUW. He scored 56 points. He shot 18-23 from the field, 10-13 from distance, and 10-12 at the free throw line. His previous recorded career high came in high school when he scored 27 points for Seymour against Menasha on December 16, 2014. On the varsity squad for CUW, he's scored nine career points in four games going 4-13 from the field and 1-6 from distance.

Fronek scored 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for the Falcons before fouling out of the game. Novak recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds and Klug just missed a double-double with 6 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists.

The win is the second straight for MATC after dropping four straight games. They now go on the road for five games before returning home to the Reiman Gymnasium on December 30, against the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM.