Matt Ochs gave the Cavaliers 17 points against the Wildcats in Tuesday night.
Cavs Overcome Linfield in Overtime
MCMINNVILLE, Ore.—In a tight game featuring several hefty swings, the Concordia men’s basketball team was able to land the finishing blow to defeat Linfield 92-82 in overtime at the Ted Wilson Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 4-1 on the season while Linfield dropped to 0-2 on the young season.
“Overall it was just a great game,” Concordia head coach Brad Barbarick said. “We were down eight and we were able to make a couple of big defensive stops and hit some timely shots down the stretch. We overcame some adversity tonight and I was very pleased with our bench play and defensive effort.”
After Linfield jumped out to an 11-6 lead via back-to-back jumpers from K.C. Wiser, the Cavs bounced back with a 26-15 run to take a six-point lead with just over seven minutes remaining.
Linfield’s Jon Weber three-point attempt at the 4:22 mark would give the game its sixth tie of the first half en route to the home squad capping the opening half with a 39-38 lead.
Out of the break, Linfield would extend the lead to eight points off a Wiser bucket followed by another Weber three, but the Cavs would rally once again with the aid of threes by Sergio Rosario and Dustin Hiebert, eventually tying the match at 68-68 with under five minutes to go in regulation.
Neither team could generate a substantial gap down the stretch with Matt Ochs and Wiser trading field goals in the final minutes for a 75-75 standstill at the buzzer.
In the extra session, Matt McCollum gave the Wildcats a two-point gap over the Cavs in Linfield’s opening possession while Rosario responded with a quick layup to again square the game. Weber followed with a pair of free throw makes, but Jeffrey Sego immediately answered for CU with a three-point shot to give the Cavs its first lead in the overtime period.
A Kris Rainwater free throw would nod the match at 80, the 16th time the battle had been tied, but the visiting Cavaliers would make its final stand with a 12-2 run in the final minutes to close out the road win.
The two seniors on the team, Steven Vaughan and Desmond Meray, each recorded 20-point nights while junior Matt Ochs posted 17 points off of a 7-of-12 shooting performance. Ochs spent 42 minutes on the court. Off the bench, redshirt freshman Jourdan Sweeney fell one rebound shy of a ‘double double’ with 10 points and nine boards.
Wiser led Linfield with a game-high 31 points, hitting 14-of-19 from the floor.
Concordia returns to action on Friday, Nov. 28, when it travels to the Pacific Northwest Lutheran Invitational Tournament hosted by Pacific Lutheran University. The Cavs will face Wittenberg University at 4 p.m. On Saturday, CU will match up versus Concordia-Moorhead, also beginning with a 4 p.m. tip.
“We did some good things defensively and we were able to handle the pressure that Linfield applied. Offensively I feel as though we are just starting to get into a better rhythm,” Barbarick said.