Concordia's Jourdan Sweeney grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds against Northwest on Saturday.
Jourdan Sweeney Helps Cavs Sink Northwest
PORTLAND, Ore.— With his third double-double in the past four games, Jourdan Sweeney helped guide Concordia to a 69-58 win over Northwest University in Cascade Collegiate Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday night.
With the win, CU improved to 13-6 overall and 4-5 in the CCC while NU dropped to 10-9 with a 5-4 mark in league contests. After the completion of Saturday league contests, four teams are tied for the conference lead with 7-2 records against CCC opponents. Northwest finished the day in fifth place and Concordia concluded the weekend in sixth.
Concordia will next take the floor in a non-conference match against Multnomah University on Jan. 19 and will resume CCC play at home against Warner Pacific on Jan. 23 for its lone weekend game next week. The Eagles will host Corban College and Northwest Christian University next weekend.
Northwest was able to generate an 8-4 lead early on after a Tyson Christie dunk, but the Cavaliers would immediately respond with an 8-0 run capped by a Dustin Hiebert three to stake a 12-8 lead.
Despite being outshot 40.7 percent (11 of 27) to 50 percent (14 of 28), Concordia would finish the half with a 33-30 lead and would not trail the rest of the way.
A quick free throw out of the gate in the second brought the Eagles to within one point only to see the Cavs extend its advantage to nine with an 11 to 3 outburst for a 44-35 score with 13 minutes to play.
The Cavs held the Eagles to 34.3 percent shooting in the second half to increase the gap by as much as 13 points before NU put in the final bucket for the 11-point differential.
“I was really pleased with our resiliency after a difficult loss last night,” CU head coach Brad Barbarick said. “We were able to bounce back and stay dialed in against a very good NU team. This helps keeps us in the mix and within striking distance in a very deep conference.”
Sweeney finished with 12 points and a career-best 18 rebounds which also represents the season-best by any Cavalier this season. Sweeney’s presence was a key factor in Concordia’s domination on the boards, finishing with a 40-28 edge over the Eagles.
Alex Tiefenthaler led the Cavaliers with 18 points with half his tally coming from behind the three-point line after connecting on 3 of 6 from long range. Gage Aker and Hiebert finished with 11 points each to give CU four players in double figures.
Battling foul trouble for much of the second half, Stedman Richardson finished with a game-high 18 points to lead Northwest while teammates Greg George and Tyler Mendezona each finished with 10-point sums.