MBB: Cougars end Bulldogs' season in first round defeat

The Bulldogs started the first half with very cold shooting from field as it took Concordia five minutes before the first field goal was made when freshman point guard Tyler Bredehoeft sunk a three pointer. By that time the Cougars had jumped out to a commanding lead at 15-6. Sophomore Austin Thoms followed that up with a three pointer of his own, before Bredehoeft struck again with a floater in the lane to cut the Cougar lead to four.

Sioux Falls would again go on a run to push their lead to as many as eight before the Bulldogs would go on a 8-2 run over the last 3:08 topped off by a three pointer by senior guard Benjamin Buhr that tied the game at 33-33, but with :04 seconds remaining Cougar guard Matt Malloy snuck through the Bulldog defense to hit a leaner in the lane as the first half came to a close giving Sioux Falls a 35-33 halftime lead.

The second half started much the same as the first half did as the Cougars came storming out of the intermission going on a 15-4 run to push their lead to 13 in the first four minutes and Sioux Falls would not look back from their. The Bulldogs had held Sioux Falls leading scorer Tut Yual to two points in the first half but Yual took over in the second half scoring 14 points as well as pulling down seven rebounds. Yual's second half performance led to the Bulldogs being out rebound by the Cougars 52-35 that included 15 offensive rebounds.

Concordia was led offensively by Buhr with 18 points while Bredehoeft scored 14 points and was the leading rebounder with five for the Bulldogs off the bench.

Yual led the Cougars with 16 points and 12 rebounds along with four other players who scored in double digits: Jesse Huser (16), Matt Mallow (14), Adam Herther (14), and Cedric Seefeldt (12).

The Bulldogs end the season 10-20 and 4-13 in the GPAC and will look to rebound in 2008 as many underclassmen saw significant playing time throughout the season.

Complete Box Score