SEWARD, Neb. – Visiting Morningside put on a shooting clinic inside Walz Arena on Saturday afternoon, raining in 13-of-19 shots from beyond the arc to leave the Concordia University men’s basketball team in the dust. The Bulldogs had hoped to avenge a 92-88 loss in Sioux City, Iowa, on Dec. 7, but instead were left smarting from an 85-65 defeat inside Walz Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Fourth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad slipped at home for only the third time this season. Concordia dropped to 12-8 overall and to 4-7 in conference play.
It was freshman Matt Hahn’s day. The native of Fremont, Neb., entered the weekend having attempted only 13 shots from beyond the arc all season. On Saturday he exploded with five treys in the first half alone for the visitors, who were an impossibly hot 11-for-12 on their 3-point tries over the first 20 minutes.
By the time the Bulldogs sprung to life, it was too late. In its last two outings, home losses to No. 19 Midland and Morningside, Concordia’s normally potent offensive attack has cooled off. The Bulldogs shot 41.7 percent (for the game on Saturday and compounded the offensive struggles by turning it over 19 times.
Saturday’s result was an anomaly in many ways. The Bulldogs had suffered six of their previous seven losses by margins of five points or less. Their largest margin of defeat this season had been 10 prior to the rough home outing versus the Mustangs (16-6, 6-5 GPAC)
Chandler Folkerts paced Concordia with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the floor. The rest of the team shot a combined 17-for-49. While Morningside lit it up from the outside, the Bulldogs made only 7-of-29 attempts attempts from the perimeter.
Hahn had no trouble filling it up from the outside. He made 7-of-9 3-point shots and finished with a game high 29 points. Three other Mustangs also reached double figures in scoring: Brody Egger (14), Alex Borchers (13) and Ryan Tegtmeier (11). Besides Folkerts, Eli Ziegler (11) was the only other Bulldog to notch at least 10 points.
The jockeying for positioning within the league standings will continue on Wednesday when the Bulldogs host Hastings (12-11, 6-5 GPAC). Game time is set for 8 p.m. CT in what will be the first meeting of the season between Concordia and the Broncos. That contest will lead into the 66th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament that will get underway Friday afternoon.