 | 68 |
 | 75 |
A scoring drought late in the game was one of the reasons the Concordia University men's basketball team fell 75-68 to the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers Wednesday night at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.
The Bulldogs trailed 35-19 with just over four minutes remaining in the first half before the Concordia offense surged to life, ending the half on a 16-4 run to cut the Tiger lead to four, 39-35.
With back-to-back jumpers by Tyler Bredehoeft two minutes into the second half, the Bulldogs took a 42-41 lead. The two teams would trade the lead for the majority of the second half. The Tigers' Ike Muoneke hit a layup with 5:14 remaining to give DWU a 64-61 lead. Bredehoeft then found Dustin Weber open in the corner, and Weber buried the 3-pointer to tie the game. The Tigers missed a 3-point attempt of their own, and on the ensuing possession Dusan Veselinovic hit a deep 3-pointer to give Concordia a 67-64 lead with 4:01 remaining in regulation. It would be the last field goal the Bulldogs would make in the game. Dakota Wesleyan's Chase Walder hit two 3-pointers down the stretch, and the Tigers would ice the game with free-throws.
Concordia was led offensively by Veselinovic with 21 points while Sam Huebner had a breakout game offensively with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Dakota Wesleyan was led by Mitch Bain with 21 points.
With the loss Concordia falls to 18-10 overall and 10-7 in the GPAC while Dakota Wesleyan moves to 23-6 overall and 14-3 in the GPAC.
The next action for the Bulldogs comes Saturday, Feb. 21, with Concordia traveling to Blair, Neb., to take on the Dana College Vikings. Tipoff set for 4 p.m.