CU's Kevan West connected on 6 of 11 attempts from the floor for 16 points against the Lutes.
Last-Second Layup Boosts Cavs over Lutes
PORTLAND, Ore.—For the third straight game, a Concordia men’s basketball game came down to its final possession and for the third straight game, the Cavaliers escaped with a win as a Kevan West layup with a second to play gave CU a76-74 win over Pacific Lutheran on Saturday night.
With the win, Concordia improved to 5-0 on the season while the Lutes fell to 0-1 after their season opener.
Alex Tiefenthaler lead all Cavaliers with 19 points while West added 16 and Dustin Hiebert 15. Jourdan Sweeney corralled a game-high 13 rebounds and Gage Aker registered a game-high seven assists to keep te Cavs undefeated on the season.
The Cavaliers opened the game strong as electrifying dunks by Sweeney and West allowed CU to jump out to a 15-5 lead. The early momentum would be short lives as PLU would soon respond with a 10-0 run to pull within appoint with the score 19-18.
Returning the favor, the Cavs got back on track to retain an 11-point lead, their largest of the game, via a Jason Holzwarth layup with 4:10 to play in the first to bump the score to 33-22 in favor of the home squad, before settling for a 44-34 lead at intermission.
The Lutes opened the second half with a 13-3 streak to nod the contest at 47-47 and would eventually stake as much as a five-point advantage on a Kyle MacTaggert three with 2:41 to play in regulation.
With the score reading 72-67 with the trialing tally turned on the Cavaliers, CU finished off the contest with nine of the game’s final 11 points, including West’s last-second fast-break attempt created by a Tiefenthaler tip and a Hiebert assist.
“PLU played an excellent second half,” CU head coach Brad Barbarick said, “which was frustrating as we controlled the first half of play as our energy level fluctuated. That eing said, I am very pleased with how hard we played and when you do that consistently you always give yourself a chance to win.”
With four players reaching double figures, the Lutes were led by 21 points from Curtis Trondsen and 17 from MacTaggert.
After shooting 55.9 percent from the field in the first half, CU cooled to 37.5 percent in the second to finish with a 48.3 percent rate. PLU ended with a 39.4 percent shooting percentage but was aided by nine three-point makes.