 | 54 |
 | 60 |
The Concordia University men's basketball team kept its 2009 post-season dreams alive with a gritty 60-54 redemption victory over the Mt. Marty College Lancers Tuesday night in the opening round of the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament.
A sluggish start offensively, in which the two teams shot a combined 38 percent from the field, led to a 30-29 lead for the Lancers. Neither team came out of the intermission red-hot, but the Bulldogs powered through to be down just two, 39-37, with 14 minutes remaining. Freshman Tyler Byrd then hit a 3-pointer in the corner to give the Bulldogs the lead. The Lancers didn't have an answer the entire evening for the Bulldog duo of Dusan Veselinovic and Andy Banahan. The two big men for Concordia complimented each other with Veselinovic knocking down mid-range jumpers and Banahan pulling down key rebounds to keep Mt. Marty at bay.
Veselinovic led the Bulldogs offensively with 25 points, 12 rebounds and hitting 8-of-10 free throws, many coming down the stretch for Concordia. Banahan added 10 points and six rebounds. Concordia's defense came alive in the second half as the Bulldogs forced the Lancers into 23 turnovers for the game. Weston Kusser led the Lancers with 17 points while Jared Wall registered a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
With the victory Concordia moves on to the second round of the GPAC tournament to take on Briar Cliff at 7:30 p.m. in Sioux City, Iowa. Concordia is now 19-11 overall while Mt. Marty ends their season at 7-24 overall.