Men’s basketball defeats Concordia Wisconsin in pursuit of CIT trophy
Photo description: Sophomore Jaxon Weyand rushes down the court toward the basket.
Photo credit: Courtney Wright (photo from previous game)
Cohen Carpenter
Sower Staff
The Concordia Basketball team won their Concordia Invitational Tournament matchup against the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons this Saturday with a final score of 75-69, taking home a shiny CIT 2024 trophy.
Kicking off the game with a stolen ball and two three-pointers for Wisconsin, the Bulldogs dragged behind for the first few minutes of the half but never quite let the lead out of sight.
CUNE’s rebound game was incredible, their defense stopping the Falcons from getting any good shots off and bringing the score back to a tie at 12-12. Unable to make any layups for a time, Wisconsin got the tables turned on them in a flash with a solid CUNE three-pointer and some free throws.
The game became an extremely close back-and-forth skirmish, the physicality of the game bringing on several fouls and successive free throws with few real shots in between followed by several good drives for Seward and some threes from Wisconsin.
A dunk from junior Tristan Smith and a layup from freshman Lukas Helms brought the score to 33-33 and were the only points for a few possessions until another string of fouls and free throws. A layup from each team finished off the half at 38-41, promising a competitive second half.
The second half brought the promised competition, and each team harried each other mercilessly with steals and turnovers until a Nebraska steal two minutes in. Still struggling in their layup ability, Wisconsin managed to keep CUNE’s free throws at bay with the occasional three-pointer. The scoreboard changed every 30 seconds or so from a drawn out three-point shoot-off for several minutes.
Nebraska took the lead halfway through the half with a series of back-and-forth layups in which they came out on top, bringing the score to 55-50. The shots became unrelenting when the layup streak turned hard in CUNE’s favor. They went for possession after possession with successful shots to make the score 62-54 and putting the icing on the cake with a dunk from junior Noah Schutte.
Wisconsin had their time in the sun with a few layups, but couldn’t quite bring it home, as the Bulldogs never let them within nine points of the lead.
Another run of free throws ended the game at 75-69, securing another win for the Concordia Bulldogs.
The team as a whole scored 24 of 51 field goals (47 percent), six of 19 three pointers (31.5 percent), and had eight assists. They made 21 of 29 free throws and 39 rebounds.
Noah Schutte and Tristan Smith were the leading scorers with 22 and 16 points respectively, and each had 12 rebounds.
The team won each CIT game to take home the trophy this year. Their next game is Jan. 31 in Sioux City, Iowa at 7:45 p.m. against the Morningside University Mustangs.
