Concordia men hold on for CIT championship

Posted

The Concordia University men’s basketball team put on a clinic for much of Jan. 30’s Concordia Invitational Tournament championship game in River Forest, Illinois. But nothing has come easy for the Bulldogs. They could finally celebrate when DeShawn Robinson’s three at the buzzer rattled in and out. The Bulldogs won, 86-85, on Saturday, giving them their 26th all-time CIT championship.

Head Coach Ben Limback won his second CIT title as Bulldog leader. He also won two as head coach at Concordia University Ann Arbor. CUNE has a four-game win streak and is 15-9 overall.

“I feel like that’s a typical CIT championship,” Limback said. “You hate to see anybody lose that game. I thought Concordia Wisconsin played unbelievable. Their kids played extremely hard. Made a lot of great shots that kept us on our heels in the second half.

“Kid takes that shot at the buzzer and you’re watching it in slow motion. Last year it went in. This year it didn’t.”

The Bulldogs shot a sweltering 56.6 percent (30-for-53) from the field and led by as many as 12 points early in the second half. Concordia again rode Chandler Folkerts, CIT MVP, and his near unstoppable inside presence. There were stretches when the high-low game had CUW completely perplexed. Eli Ziegler made treys on three straight possessions in the first half and Robby Thomas (19 points, five rebounds, three blocks), also all-tournament, put together another stellar game.

Somehow the Falcons (11-9) nearly overcame CUNE’s sharpshooting. CUW rallied to take an 82-78 lead near the four-minute mark. Shortly after, Micah Kohlwey got loose with a steal and layup that brought things even at 82-82. Jamie Pearson drove for two and an 85-82 advantage to cap a crucial 7-0 run and the Bulldogs survived despite Folkerts fouling out with 2:02 showing on the game clock.

Folkerts piled up 24 points and eight rebounds a day after recording 21 points and 11 boards in the victory over Concordia Ann Arbor. The Chanimal has been on a rampage, but the wins matter most to the Milford native.

“Winning is way more fun,” Folkerts said. “We’re gelling better. We’re playing together better. It’s been really fun. It’s turning into wins.”

It was simply time for the ball to bounce CUNE’s way. The Bulldogs have fallen victim to buzzer-beating, game-winning shots twice this season and last year were heartbroken after a CIT title game loss to Ann Arbor. For a brief moment, it appeared that Robinson’s shot would go down.

“I was just praying it wouldn’t go in,” Folkerts said.

CUNE blocked another eight shots on Saturday. Folkerts rejected four attempts and Thomas, the program’s career record holder, swatted three shots. The Bulldogs again excelled at the foul line, making 17-of-21 (.810) shots.

Folkerts was one of four players to reach double figures for CUNE. He was joined by Thomas (19), Ziegler (17) and Pearson (14). Pearson and Ziegler both dished out five assists.

The Bulldogs return to GPAC action on Wednesday, Feb. 3, when they head to Lincoln to take on rival Nebraska Wesleyan (14-6, 9-5 GPAC).

Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. inside Snyder Arena.

CUNE will attempt to avenge its buzzer-beater loss to the Prairie Wolves back on Dec. 2.

Limback hopes his crew can build upon its CIT title.

“This environment certainly will make you tougher,” Limback said. “The goal is to emotionally come down – enjoy tonight – and then tomorrow regroup and get rest. We have a big conference run ahead of us. We’ve got to keep it going.”

CUNE 86, CUAA 65

A second half explosion propelled Concordia Nebraska to the CIT title game for the fifth straight season. The Bulldogs shot 60 percent over the final 20 minutes and exacted revenge on Concordia University Ann Arbor by way of an 85-65 victory Jan. 29.

“When we take care of the ball and multiple guys touch it, good things happen,” Limback said. “Offensively and defensively, we’re so long and athletic it’s about making the smart plays. We had to maintain aggressiveness.”

The firepower of Folkerts inside and Pearson outside dashed CUAA’s hopes of winning a second straight CIT title. With the Cardinals chirping and on a 5-0 mini run, Pearson buried a corner trey that sparked CUNE’s offensive onslaught. Folkerts highlighted the 32-12 surge with a monster throwdown while being contacted by a CUAA defender.

The Cardinals couldn’t stop the Bulldog roll and the lead ballooned to as many as 24 points.

CUNE put together a rock-solid effort that included perfect 20-for-20 foul shooting. The Bulldogs owned the boards, outnumbering CUAA 40-26. CUNE shot 55.6 percent (30-for-54) from the field compared to 39.3 percent (24-for-61) shooting by the Cardinals.

Thomas broke Glen Snodgrass’ program career blocks record with a pair of rejections on Friday. Thomas, who hails from Shawnee, Kansas, now has 189 career blocks. Folkerts (21 points, 11 rebounds), who notched his seventh double double in nine games, also swatted three shots.

“In the second half we took it up a notch,” Limback said. “Chandler was just a man tonight.”

Then there was Kohlwey diving on the floor with no regard for his own livelihood. Kohlwey got the large CIT crowd roaring with a sequence of hustle plays in the second half.

“They’re a really tough team,” Pearson said. “Coach told us to go hard to the glass. In the first half they kind of caught us off guard. We wanted to come back and make a hard push in the second half.

“A big part of it was when Micah came in with four fouls and sparked the team with a couple steals and a couple hustle plays. We really just feed off of each other.”

Pearson concluded the game with 18 points as one of four Bulldogs to reach double figures. The others were Thomas (14 points, four assists) and Eli Ziegler (10 points). Limback commended sophomore guard Rudy Knight for his work off the bench. Knight recorded eight points and three assists (one turnover) in 14 minutes.

Concordia 89, Doane 81

Concordia bounced back after a three game losing streak and defeated its second GPAC opponent in a row. The Bulldogs claimed a victory over Doane College, 89-81 Jan. 27 thanks to a lofty .588 shooting percentage.

“I thought we did a good job,” Limback said. “Defensively at times, we needed keep them (Doane) out of the paint. Offensively, we got in a good rhythm. There was pretty good balance. Kyle Pierce gave us some great minutes off the bench, I thought he was accurate at both ends and really gave us a spark. It’s good to get a win here at home and in the conference.”

The Bulldogs shot .588 from the field (30-51) and .294 from behind the arc (5-17). Concordia’s defense held the Tigers to a 40.5 percent field goal mark. The Dogs outrebounded Doane 35-22.

Leading the Bulldogs in scoring was Thomas, tallying 22 points. Thomas also tacked on five rebounds and three assists.

Also scoring above 10 points were Pearson (16), Pierce (16) and Folkerts (15). Pearson was the front runner in rebounds with seven boards.

Despite being double-teamed most of the time, Folkerts found a way around the defenders and pushed in 15 points, including a dunk with an assist from Pearson.

The Dogs favored the paint in the contest with 50 of their points coming from inside.

“It’s nice to get back and get to playing again after I had a little break,” Pierce said. “It’s also good to get two wins in a row and a big win over Doane. We really took it to them the whole game.”

After the first half, Concordia had missed just nine shots from the field and shot a sweltering 65.4 percent.

Thomas had already amassed 11 points, contributing to the Bulldogs’ 47-35 lead.

“We wanted to push in transition and get defensive stops that lead to offense. Some guys really played hard and stepped up,” Limback said.

The only time the Tigers narrowed the Bulldogs’ lead to less than 10 in the second stanza was with the last shot of the game.

Trevor Cyboron of Doane drained a 3-pointer to set the final score.