 | 63 |
 | 71 |
The Concordia University men's basketball team got back to its winning ways with a physical 71-63 victory over the Dana College Vikings Tuesday night at the Doghouse in Seward, Neb.
A sloppy first half of shooting led to a 32-28 advantage for the Bulldogs heading into the halftime break. Concordia came out hot in the beginning of the second half, quickly widening the Bulldog lead to seven, 38-31. Concordia was then able to keep the Vikings at bay with timely layups and 3-pointers. Concordia upped the lead to as many as 10 points, 55-45, with seven minutes remaining.
Dana was not done for the evening, however. The Vikings closed the Bulldog lead to three, 65-62, on a jumper by Jon Pearson. The hustle of Concordia's Kendall Bender, who tipped a ball to Tyler Bredehoeft for a lay in, helped the Bulldogs move the lead back to five, 67-62. In the final minutes Tyler Byrd would nail four free throws to ice the game.
Concordia was led offensively by Byrd with 12 points while three other Bulldogs went for double digits: Sam Huebner (11), Ryan Shrum (10) and Dusan Veselinovic (10). Dana was led by Jon Pearson with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting while Gabe Bross added 13 points for the Vikings.
The victory moves the Bulldogs to 14-5 and 8-2 in the GPAC while Dana drops to 10-11 and 3-7 in the GPAC.
Next action for the Bulldogs comes Jan. 24 as Concordia travlels to Sioux City, Iowa, to take on the Morningside College Mustangs. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
