Sophomore Adam Herman finished with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting against the Pilots on Saturday.
Concordia Tests University of Portland in Exhibition Contest
STATS - Concordia vs. Portland
PORTLAND, Ore.—In their first action of the season, the Concordia men’s basketball team pushed the NCAA Division I University of Portland Pilots to the brink of an upset before falling 81-72 on Saturday in an exhibition match at the Chiles Center on Saturday.
While Portland walked away with the win, Concordia pestered the Pilots throughout as Concordia limited the Pilots to 15 percent shooting from three-point land and forced them into 20 turnovers.
That defense gave the team a chance for the upset as the Cavs drew within two at 68-66 after a layup from CU’s Aaron Corsi capped an 8-0 CU run with just 3:01 left in the second half.
However, Portland scored eight of the next 10 after that to push its lead back up to 76-68 with 42 seconds left and they held on from there.
Still, Concordia posted a strong offensive performance, seemingly picking up where it left off last season as the team shot 56.3 percent in the second half when the Cavs made 18 of their 32 shot attempts. On top of that, Concordia enjoyed a 32-to-16 advantage over the Pilots in points in the paint.
That was primarily thanks to Adam Herman who led the NAIA Division II in field goal percentage last season and looked every bit as much like he intended to do so again this year, making 10 of his 15 field goals to record a game-high 26 points. Meanwhile, senior Kevan West also cracked double-digits in points with 10, while recording five rebounds and one steal. In addition, senior point guard Gage Aker filled the stat sheet, totaling eight points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Concordia will next face Multnomah University on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the team’s first counting game of the season.