Concordia Advances to Title Game of Own Tournament
PORTLAND, Ore.—In the opening day of the Lutheran Invitational Tournament, Pacific Lutheran held off Augsburg College 84-73 and Concordia-Portland defeated Concordia-Nebraska 61-44 to advance to the men’s tournament championship match held on Saturday on the campus of CU-Portland.
The host Cavaliers received a game-high 16 points from junior guard Desmond Meray in the Concordia battle while Cody Aker notched 12 boards to lead the court. Playing the point, Jesse Alvarez collected eight assists against a single turnover to lead an efficient Cavalier attack that shot 44 percent for the evening including an even 50 percent in the first period.
Hitting 5-of-10 from the field, Casey Schrader led the Bulldogs with 13 points while teammate Benjamin Buhr fell one shy with a dozen points off 4-of-9 from the floor.
Holding off an early second-period run by Augsburg (Minn.), Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) finished with an 11-point advantage over the Auggies. Netting 60 of the team’s 84 points, Scott McDaniels and Josh Dressler each tallied 30 for the Lutes. McDaniels added nine rebounds for a team high while Dressler contributed with a game-high four steals.
Augsburg was led by a double-double performance by Nate Alm. Alm shot 6-of-8 from the court and added a game-high 13 boards.