The Concordia University men's basketball team ended the regular season with a 75-71 loss to the Dana College Vikings at the Doghouse in Seward, Neb. The Bulldogs (10-19, 4-14 GPAC) end the regular season on rough skid, losing eight of their last ten. Dana (14-16, 7-11 GPAC) finishes the regular season on a high note winning three of their last five.
Concordia fell behind early and the Dana lead ballooned to as many as ten points before the Bulldogs went on a 11-0 run to take a 34-33 lead with 1:27 left in the first half. The Bulldogs would increase the led to 36-34 on an Andy Banahan lay in before lighting struck for the Vikings. With the shot clock running out Dana center Jon Person threw up a prayer from three feet behind the three point arc that hit nothing but net to give the Vikings a 37-36 lead at halftime.
The two teams would match each other with offensive runs with Dana jumping out to a seven point lead and Concordia matching it cutting the lead to two. With Dana leading 63-60, senior Scott Hannon drove the lane and kicked the ball out to a wide open Tyler Bredehoeft who drained the deep three to tie the ballgame at 63-63 with 4:46 remaining. Lighting would strike twice for the Vikings. Dana came out of a time out when, leading 65-63 with seven seconds on the shot clock, Eric Maassen's jumper fell short but he tracked down his own rebound. Maassen was able to throw it out to Person who again drained a deep three to put the nail in the coffin for the Bulldogs at 68-63. The lead proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to bounce back from as the Vikings hit their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the 75-71 win.
Senior guard Benjamin Buhr led the Bulldog offense with 21 points, helped by 7-of-10 shooting from the field, while Hannon contributed with 14 points, and Bredehoeft finished with 12 points off the bench for Concordia.
The Vikings were led by Maassen with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Doug Huston added 10 points for Dana.
The Bulldogs will now head into the GPAC post season tournament as the No. 10 seed to take on the No. 7 seed University of Sioux Falls Cougars on Tuesday, February 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Complete Box Score
Facebook