Bulldogs Sweep Chargers in Blowout Win
#10 Justin Wiersema dunks the ball with the assist from #3 Jackson Hirschfeld
Photo Courtesy of Olivia Dunklau
By Olivia Dunklau
Saturday night in Friedrich Arena, the Bulldogs outscored Briar Cliff 81-58, bringing their record to 14-7 overall and 11-5 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
After losing 89-75 to the Briar Cliff Chargers on Dec 5, the Bulldogs knew more of what to expect and prepared for the Charger’s offense. With the home-court advantage, Concordia came out defensively hot. The Chargers only made three of their thirteen attempted three-point shots in the first half. Shutting down the three-point shooters on Briar Cliff’s team helped the Bulldogs gain power offensively.
“For the second half, we talked about resetting our defense, but we wanted to limit them from the three-point line because they are such a good three-point shooting team,” Coach Ben Limback said. “And offensively continue to look inside because we thought we had a size advantage.”
Flooding in the three-point shots for Concordia was junior Carter Kent. Kent hit six of his eight three-pointers, quickly upping the score for the team. Multiple Bulldogs hit double digits to rack up the points. Kent scored 24, juniors Gage Smith with 17, and Justin Wiersema with 13 and sophomore AJ Watson with 12.
Defensively the Bulldogs once again stayed strong and disciplined. In total, the team had 39 rebounds. Kent and senior forward Ryan Holt each had seven rebounds and Smith with a total of 10.
The Bulldogs are now 8-1 at home, coming back with a win after a hard loss to Morningside, who broke the Bulldog’s win streak at home. The early cancellation of the Concordia Invitational Tournament now leads to a whole week off for the team.
“We have a week off and we can either get better, be satisfied and just stay the same, or we can get worse,” said Limback. “We definitely want to get better so it will be a big week for us even though we don’t have a game.”
Previously beating Dordt University 59-82, Concordia will next travel to Sioux Center, Iowa Feb 3 for a rematch against the Defenders.
