Velasquez nets season best in Concordia win

1/17/2014 9:42:00 PM

Concordia 103, Evergreen 92 Stats Comparison CU ESC Points 103 92 Rebounds 36 37 Assists 13 19 Fouls 17 27 Shooting % 52.3% 48.5% 3-point % 42.9% 42.4% Free Throw % 70.7% 85.7% CU Leaders ESC Velasquez 29 Points 33 Calhoun Middleton 10 Rebounds 10 Taylor, M. Herman Holton 3 Assists 5 3 players Matthews 2 Blocks 3 Taylor, M. Velasquez 4 Steals 3 Calhoun Taylor, D. Concordia Men's Basketball > Roster > Schedule/Results > 2013-14 Season Stats > CCC Standings > CCC Stats > NAIA Rankings

PORTLAND, Ore.—Toppling the 100-point mark for the sixth time this season, the Concordia men's basketball team won its sixth straight game with a 103-92 win at home against Evergreen State on Friday night.

Led by a team-high 29 points from junior point guard Tyler Velasquez (Colorado Springs, Colo./Doherty H.S.), five players reached double figures for the Cavaliers, who improved to 15-4 on the season and 5-3 in Cascade Collegiate Conference action.

The Cavs fended off a feisty Evergreen (2-13, 1-7 CCC) squad which was led by 33 points from senior guard Kyle Calhoun, who connected on 8 of 12 from 3-point territory.

Concordia jumped out to a 17-10 advantage on an Esvan Middleton (Culver City, Calif./Culver City H.S.) layup, but the Geoducks, who were coming off a win against Oregon Tech, battled back with a Frankie Johnson jumper with 10:42 remaining to claim a 24-22 lead.

Ending the half, Evergreen would add to the lead as a Marc Taylor layup with six seconds granted the Geoducks a 47-43 at the break.

The Cavs got the first five points of the second half to immediately reclaim the lead at 48-47 only to see Johnson strike again for five quick points as part of a 7-1 spurt for a 54-49 lead, Evergreen's largest of the game.

Moments later, Velesquaz knocked down one of his three 3-pointers of the game to knot the affair at 54-54 with 13:57 remaining.

The final minutes, however, completely belonged to Concordia as the home team would eventually go up by as many as 14 points, 82-68, on a Herman put back at the 5:13 mark before finishing with the 11-point win.

Evergreen outrebounded the Cavs 37 to 36 but were dominated in free throw chances as 27 fouls led to 41 attempts at the free throw line for CU, including 14 makes in 20 chances from Herman en route to a 22-point performance.

In addition to Velasquez and Herman's big night, Anthony Holton (Portland, Ore./Sunset H.S.) (15), Willy Ligon (Corona, Calif./Centennial H.S.) (14) and Middleton (11) all reached double figures in the scoring column. Middleton added 10 rebounds for his seventh straight game with 10 or more rebounds.

Dre Taylor and Marc Taylor added 16 and 14 points for the Geoducks, respectively.
Concordia will return to action on Saturday as the Cavs will host Northwest University.

Opening tip is set for 7:30 p.m. Northwest will remain in Portland to play at Warner Pacific on Saturday.