Balanced attack leads Cavs past Wildcats

12/19/2013 10:05:00 PM

Concordia 83, Linfield 67 Stats Comparison CU LIN Points 83 67 Rebounds 36 29 Assists 12 12 Fouls 21 24 Shooting % 52.9% 37.7% 3-point % 41.7% 39.3% Free Throw % 64.9% 72.7% CU Leaders LIN Kirwan 18 Points 16 Potter Middleton 6 Rebounds 8 Cali Herman 4 Assists 4 Brill Holton 3 Blocks 1 Rodby Matthews 3 Steals 1 4 players Concordia Men's Basketball > Roster > Schedule/Results > 2013-14 Season Stats > CCC Standings > CCC Stats > NAIA Rankings

PORTLAND, Ore.—Limiting its opponent to under 40 percent shooting for the second straight outing, Concordia defeated Linfield College 83-67 in non-conference men's basketball action on Thursday night.

Concordia (9-3) never trailed in the contest as Adam Herman (Vancouver, Wash./Prairie H.S.) connected on the game's first seven points for the Cavaliers. Herman opened the game with a layup, followed with a 3-pointer and made a pair of free throws in the first three minutes of play for the early lead.

The Wildcats managed to tie the game at 12-12 on a 3-pointer from Vinnie Toor, but the Cavs returned with a 12-1 run, with six of the twelve coming via Willy Ligon (Corona, Calif./Centennial H.S.) jumpers, to snare a double-digit lead over their visitors.

Early in the second, the Cavs extended their lead to as many as 18 on a Tyler Velazquez jumper and added to their advantage (53-34) on another Herman free throw with 14 minutes remaining.

Still down 18 after an Esvan Middleton (Culver City, Calif./Culver City H.S.) layup with 5:24 to play, Linfield (2-6) whittled the CU lead down to 10 as Ryan Potter and Kevin Hurley fueled a potential comeback attempt. The Cavs, however, force a pair of late turnovers while Kory Kirwan (Hillsboro, Ore./Glencoe H.S.) drained a pair of free throws and Velasquez a 3-pointer to finish off the Wildcats.

Four players scored at least 14 points for CU in the win. Hitting 8-of-12 from the free throw line, Kirwan went on to pace CU with 18 points and was followed by 16 from Ligon and 15 from Herman. Anthony Holton (Portland, Ore./Sunset H.S.) added 14 points five rebounds, three blocks and a pair of steals in an all-around quality performance.

Potter led Linfield with 16 points while teammate Ryan Cali also reached double figures in the scoring column with 11 points, nine of which came from long range.

Concordia will close out the 2013 slate on Saturday with a road match at Warner Pacific College .Opening tip is set for 7:30 p.m. in Portland.