Concordia (4-3) had to work for the victory early, though, as the Cavs received Portland Bible’s (2-6) best shot in the first half. Portland Bible even outshot the Cavs 56.7-to-55.0 from the field in the first half and made seven of their 14 three-point field goal attempts.

However, the Cavs still led 54-42 at halftime and came out with an increased defensive intensity in the second half that Portland Bible couldn’t match.

“I was really proud of our guys in the second half,” said CU Head Coach Brad Barbarick. “They really picked up the pressure defensively, which is exactly what I want to see out of them moving forward this season.”

The Cavs played so tight defensively that they held Portland Bible scoreless over a ten minute stretch in the second half. Meanwhile, the Cavs scored 31 straight points during the same stretch to turn a 63-52 game with 16:49 remaining into a 94-52 game with 6:34 remaining.

Once the dust had settled after the second half, Concordia had outscored Portland bible 62-19 in the period and outshot their opponents 70.3-to-25 in field goal percentage.

The win might taste a tad bittersweet for Coach Barbarick, though, as Portland Bible’s Head Coach was Eivind Schweiss, a ’99 alum of the Concordia men’s basketball program. Schweiss started the program at Portland Bible and has already won the NCCAA Division II West Region championship in each of the last two seasons.

“I’m really proud of Eivind for the work he’s done in starting the program at Portland Bible,” said Barbarick. “He’s still one of the all-time best defenders we’ve had in my time at Concordia and I wish him and his team nothing but the best of luck this season.”

The game also marked the first time Barbarick has coached against one of his former players, though the second won’t take nearly as long as the two teams will play again at Cavalier Gymnasium on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Overall, six different players scored in the double-digits for the Cavs who went over the century mark in points for the first time this season. Adam Herman led the charge with a game-high 27 points off 12-of-13 shooting from the field, just one missed three-point attempt away from his third perfect game this season. Behind Herman, Austin Dunn scored 16 for the Cavs, while Drew Preuninger added 15, Jason Yecny scored 12 and Kevan West and Marquis Matthews each tallied 11. In addition, CU’s Jourdan Sweeney led the Cavs with seven rebounds, while senior Daniel LeFlore dished out a game-high seven assists against only one turnover.

Concordia will now hope to take the momentum of their strong second half into their conference openers against Eastern Oregon and The College of Idaho this weekend.

“This will be a critical weekend for our team’s season,” said Barbarick. “Eastern Oregon has great size and is a phenomenal rebounding team, while The College of Idaho plays great defense. It’ll be important that our guys commit to playing a high-level of basketball in both of those games.”

Concordia will first face Eastern Oregon on Friday, Dec. 2 and then take on The College of Idaho, Saturday, Dec. 3. Both games will begin at 7:30 p.m.