York College Downs Concordia Men’s Basketball
by Jacy Johnston
Wednesday night the Concordia men’s basketball team traveled out west to take on nonconference foe York College. Despite a halftime lead, the Bulldogs were unable to hold on to pull out the win and lost 70-65.
Junior Eli Ziegler started the offense for the Bulldogs with two early 3-pointers, and the Bulldogs held a 12-7 lead. With under ten minutes to play in the first half, Concordia led 26-16. The York Panthers fought back quickly to pull the score to 31-26 with 4:53 left to play. At the half, Concordia led 38-35 shooting 54 percent from the field.
In the second half, the Bulldogs led 46-40 after responding to York’s offensive run. York quickly closed in on the Bulldogs and took a 51-50 lead. York kept its lead despite small runs from the Bulldog offense. With a minute left, Concordia trailed 67-63. The Bulldogs could not surpass the Panthers and lost 70-65.
“Last night was a good road test for us,” Concordia Coach Ben Limback said. “I thought we did a good job of controlling the tempo in the first half and part of the second half. But we let them get loose in transition and turned the ball over too many times to allow them momentum. And we just didn’t make the big shots down the stretch to win the game.”
Senior Robby Thomas led the Bulldogs with 17 points. Junior Chandler Folkerts contributed his fourth straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Concordia will continue its season against Dakota Wesleyan at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16 in Walz Arena.
“I think the guys are ready to bounce back for Saturday’s big home game against Dakota Wesleyan,” Limback said.
The Bulldogs maintain an 11-7 overall record and 5-6 in GPAC.
