YANKTON, S.D. – The Concordia University men’s basketball team got a first-hand look at just how far the Mount Marty program has advanced since last season. A few days after falling just short of an upset at No. 1 Morningside, the Bulldogs were blown out by the 23rd-ranked Lancers, 97-70, in Yankton, S.D., on Saturday (Dec. 14). Mount Marty guards Chris King and Colby Johnson were much too hot to handle.
Head coach Ben Limback’s squad has dropped three GPAC contests in a row and has slipped to 7-4 overall and to 2-4 within league play.
“We got caught up trying to play their game. That’s really what it boiled down to,” Limback said. “We turned it over too much and we played their style. We took too many quick shots and tried some one-on-one stuff. We have guys that want to respond and bounce back. We have to develop a much tougher mindset when adversity strikes. I know our guys will respond and be ready.”
This will be one to forget for Concordia. King and Johnson were cold-blooded. King nailed 8-of-12 attempts from 3-point range on his way to 30 points. Meanwhile, Johnson netted 4-of-7 shots from long range and finished with 21 points. The Lancers (13-2, 6-1 GPAC) scorched the nets with a 21-for-45 (.467) performance from beyond the arc.
There weren’t a whole lot of positives for the Bulldogs, but they did manage to weather an early storm and make a game of it for the bulk of the first half. A trey by Brevin Sloup evened the score at 22-22 (7:58 mark) after Mount Marty had led 16-4. But a 13-4 Lancer run to finish the opening half gave way to an onslaught Concordia had no answer for. Mount Marty took advantage of a rash of Bulldog turnovers to begin the second half while building an insurmountable lead.
Concordia finished minus-12 in turnover margin and went just 8-for-29 from 3-point range. Two Bulldogs posted double-figure scoring totals: Tanner Shuck (14) and Justin Wiersema (12). Sloup shot 3-for-12 from the field and had seven points while Carter Kent shot 3-for-8 and posted nine points. Off the bench, Ryan Holt produced nine points on 4-for-6 shooting.
The fortunes have completely reversed for Mount Marty under the direction of first-year head coach Todd Lorensen. The Lancers went just 6-23 last season and have not had a winning season since 2005-06. As it looks currently, Mount Marty is just a game behind Morningside at the top of the GPAC standings.
Once finals week is finished, the Bulldogs will be able to focus their complete attention on the Malika Sports Tours Hoop N Surf Classic (Dec. 21-22) in Honolulu, Hawaii. On the first day of the weekend classic, Concordia will take on MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.). The opponent on day two will be Menlo College (Calif.).