Concordia's Adam Herman tied for a game high with 23 points against Linfield on Friday. Herman has only failed to score 20 points in one game this season.
Defense Leads Concordia in 86-78 Win over Linfield
BOX SCORE - Concordia vs. Linfield
MCMINNVILLE, Ore.—With its defense leading the way, the Concordia men’s basketball snapped a five-game losing streak with an 86-78 win over Linfield on Friday.
“I was really pleased with how we defended tonight,” said CU head coach Brad Barbarick. “Linfield has been a hot team recently so this win will really help us get back on track.”
Concordia (3-5) held Linfield to under 40 percent shooting in both halves on Friday, while the team held the Wildcats to just 37.8 percent shooting overall.
The Cavs’ defensive pressure started early too, as Concordia held Linfield to just one field goal over a seven-minute stretch in the first half, during which the Cavaliers built a lead it would not relinquish.
Concordia stretched its lead out with a 10-2 run near the near the end of the first half that put them up 44-31 with just 53 seconds remaining before halftime.
The Wildcats responded with an 8-0 run that bridged the first and second halves, but the Cavs bounced back to maintain its lead.
The Wildcats’ 8-0 run brought them within five points of the Cavs, one of five times the Wildcats would draw within five points in the second half. Concordia never let Linfield closer than five points though, as the Cavs’ defense stepped up each time.
Newcomer Justyn Searle helped lead the strong defensive effort with a season-best five blocks in the game. Searle also had his best offensive game of the season as he scored 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor.
“It was really good to see Justyn assert himself inside,” said Barbarick. “We’re really going to need him going forward as he takes pressure off the rest of the team when he’s playing well in the post.”
Meanwhile, Robbie Jackson, another newcomer, also had his best game of the season on Friday in what was his first career start. Jackson scored eight points for the Cavs, including two three-pointers, while tying starting point guard Anthony Holton with a game-high four assists.
Beyond Searle and Jackson, Adam Herman tied Linfield’s Andrew Batiuk with a game-high 23 points in the game, while Willy Ligon and Holton also went into double-digits with 16 and 10 points, respectively.
Holton and Searle also tied for a game high with seven rebounds each in the game on Friday.
The Wildcats’ 37.8 percent shooting against Concordia marks the third-lowest percentage for a Cavalier opponent this season. The Cavaliers held Multnomah to a season-low 27.2 percent in their season-opener, while they also held Lewis-Clark State to 36.0 percent on Nov. 10.
Overall, the Cavaliers’ have held opponents to just 40.5 percent shooting this season, well below the program’s single-season record for field goal percentage defense, which the 1997-98 team set at 42.1 percent.
Concordia will have a chance to lower its field goal percentage defense even further when it plays at Warner Pacific for its next game on Saturday, Dec. 15. That game will tip off at 7:30 p.m.