Men’s Basketball Sweeps Season Series with Doane

by Jacy Johnson

The Concordia men’s basketball team improved its record on Wednesday night against GPAC rival Doane College with an 89-81 win.

The Bulldogs started out the game trading buckets with the Tigers but gained a 15-7 lead with 14:07 left in the first half. Junior Seth Curran connected on a corner 3-pointer to create an 18-10 lead. Balanced offensive scoring continued, and with 3:24 left in the first half, the Bulldogs led 38-25. Concordia maintained its momentum to earn a 47-35 halftime lead.

After the break, junior Chandler Folkerts started the scoring with back-to-back buckets to resume Concordia’s momentum. At the eight minute mark, the Bulldogs had a 71-53 lead over the visiting Tigers. A run from the Tigers closed the gap to 10 at 85-75 with under two minutes to play. However, free throws from senior Jamie Pearson stopped some of the Doane momentum and led to an 89-81 win for the Bulldogs.

Senior Robby Thomas led the scoring effort for the Bulldogs with 22 points. Junior Kyle Pierce and Pearson each added another 16 points, while Folkerts tallied 15 points. Despite some paltry long-range shooting, the Bulldogs shot 24-26 from the free throw line and 60 percent from the field.

“This was a big win tonight against Doane to start off our three games in a week,” said Concordia coach Ben Limback. “I thought Robby Thomas and Kyle Pierce did some nice things tonight. We hope to continue this momentum with us to Chicago and can’t wait to join Bulldog Nation for another CIT!”

The Bulldogs stand at 13-9 overall and 7-8 in conference play. At CIT, hosted by Concordia University Chicago, the Bulldogs will battle Concordia Ann Arbor at 3:15 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29.