Free throws loom large in 80-77 Bulldog overtime loss
Concordia and Montana State players pray together after their Cattle Classic game.
Photo: Ben Frerking
By Keith Siek
No. 10 Concordia Basketball opened their Cattle Classic campaign with an 80-77 loss to No. 16 Montana State on Friday in Friedrich Arena, after they struggled to put the game away at the free-throw line in front of the home crowd.
The Bulldogs went one for five in their last six attempts from the free-throw line at the end of regulation, allowing the Diggers to climb out of a four-point hole in the last minute of the game. Concordia’s lone point in the final minute was a free-throw make from senior Sammy Leu with 3 seconds on the clock.
Concordia had a 66-62 lead with 1:06 on the clock, but Montana State made a key layup and a late-game three-point shot to tie the contest at 67 with 0.8 seconds left in regulation.
The Bulldogs executed a cross-court lob to junior Makyenna Robbins on the left block out of the inbound play with 0.8 on the clock. Robbins got the shot off before the buzzer, but watched with the rest of Friedrich Arena as the ball clanked off the rim, sending the two teams into overtime.
Concordia went back-and-forth with Montana State after a strong start to overtime, but a late layup from Robbins with four seconds on the clock could not overcome a Montana State 5-0 run in the final minute after the 75-75 deadlock at 1:21 in the contest.
Coach Drew Olson said that he felt the Bulldogs let a game slip away.
“You’ve got to finish the game off, you’ve got to stay focused, and you’ve got to make your free throws,” Olson said. “These were two really good teams. I felt like we let them slip away, but we’ll learn from it.”
Olson said that the Bulldogs’ defense kept them in the game after a high-effort performance.
“I thought we played with great effort all game; we did an awesome job getting a lot of stops late in regulation, which put us in the position to win the game,” Olson said.
Concordia snagged 16 steals in the game, forcing Montana State to 27 turnovers in the contest. The Bulldog defense held the Diggers to 47% shooting from the field and allowed seven three-point makes on 22 attempts.
Concordia shot 31% from the field during the game, but only converted five jump shots from behind the arc in 32 attempts, resulting in a 15.6% three-point percentage. Sophomore Ayla Roth led Concordia scoring with 23 points in 32 minutes of action.
The Bulldogs are back in action on Saturday, with a matchup against No. 3 Dakota State University at 12:00 p.m. as the Cattle Classic rolls through a busy schedule.
