HILLSBORO, Kan. – Tate Odvody and the splash brothers combined for 15 treys from beyond the arc to run away with an 85-60 victory over the Tabor in the second half on Friday (Oct. 31). The Bulldog first-half 9-0 stretch entering the break put the first nail in what would be the eventual 25-point coffin for the Bluejays at the Tabor Classic. Odvody was efficient with 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor.
Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s basketball has a 1-1 record in the early going.
“That momentum carrying into halftime, we just started to play a little more aggressive,” Head Coach Ben Limback said. “We settled in, there in the last two, three minutes. That just gave us some confidence. We were getting some good looks in the first half, but were settling for too many threes. In the second half, we had better rhythm. We rebounded well overall and played hard on defense. The offense started clicking in the second half and just made a lot more threes.”
Tied with less than two minutes left in the first frame, Odvody and Logan Wilson combined for eight of the nine points before reaching the halftime break, going up 34-25. A couple of Omaha Westside alums, Odvody would sprinkle his 21 points (3-for-4 3-PT) throughout the game and Wilson scored all eight of his total tallies with six of his 10 boards in the opening 20.
Said Limback, “He (Odvody) moved well off the ball. He is a competitor. He had great intensity. It was more than just the shot-making, and I thought he made some plays that we knew he was capable of.”
Coming out of the locker rooms, Concordia went on a 20-9 scoring drive powered by Zac Kulus’ eight points in the sprint. Up 17, the Bulldogs capitalized on ball movement for nine made threes (41.7 percent) in the second half to put the game away. Odvody, Kulus (3-for-5), Tyler Harre (3-for-5) and Garrett Johnson (3-for-7) led the visitors with three apiece from the perimeter.
As a team, CUNE shot 42.9 percent (30-for-70) from field goal range . The biggest advantage for the Bulldogs (15-for-36) was a 15-3 three-point differential over the Bluejays. Johnson hit double-digits with 11 points and Harre was just under with nine.
Tabor (0-2) was led by Marque Wilkerson (14 points), Niieihii Blackbear (11 points) and sixth man Khalil Allen (12 points). The Bluejays shot 34.8 percent (24-for-69) from the floor and edged out their opponents in rebounds (40-39). The Hillsboro bench will face Mount Marty on Saturday, continuing the Tabor Classic.
Concordia (1-1) will face opponent no. 2 of the showcase in Wayland Baptist University (Texas), 1-0, on Saturday. The Bulldogs will tip-off at 1 p.m. CT in Hillsboro, Kan.