Velasquez leads Cavs to win over No. 18. Warner Pacific
PORTLAND, Ore.— In front of a capacity crowd against the CCC's top-ranked defense, No. 12-ranked Concordia University withstood a late charge by No. 18-ranked Warner Pacific to hold on for a 70-65 win inside the C.C. Perry Gymnasium on Friday night.
The win gives Concordia (18-3, 8-2 CCC) its first regular-season sweep of its crosstown rival since 2003-04.
The first ever top-20 matchup between the two Portland programs did not disappoint as the teams entered the halftime break knotted at 27-27.
The Cavaliers held a 40-38 lead with 12:03 to play before an 18-6 run created the first resemblance of separation against Warner Pacific (17-5, 7-3 CCC).
The Concordia run generated the game's largest lead, a 14-point advantage with 7:25 remaining following an
Esvan Middleton-assisted dunk to
Justyn Searle, but the Cavaliers did not connect on another field goal (0-for-4) and were forced into five turnovers over the remainder of the game to allow the Knights a chance at a comeback on its home court.
Entering the game as the CCC's least effective team at the free throw line, Concordia brushed off the rowdy home crowd to sink 74.2 percent (23-of-31) from the charity stripe, including 81.8 percent (18-of-22) in the second half to preserve the lead.
CU scored its final 12 points of the game from the line.
Clinging to a three-point lead after a Coletun Tarr 3-pointer with three seconds remaining,
Tyler Velasquez connected on back-to-back attempts from the line, upping his game-high point total to 27 and putting the game out of reach for WPC.
After falling behind early, Warner Pacific held the lead for the bulk of the final four minutes of the first half before entering the break tied. The Knights tied the game at 34-34 on an Earl Jones 3-pointer, but Concordia never trailed in the second half.
Zach Geary gave the Cavs a boost off the bench with a pair of early 3-pointers and two more in the second half for a season-high 12 points. Adding to his 11 points from Tuesday's game against New Hope Christian, Geary more than doubled his season scoring output in the last two games alone as the junior transfer entered the week with 22 points on the year.
Esvan Middleton, the league's leading rebounder, reached double figures in boards in the first half and went on to collect a game-high 17 caroms, including eight on the offensive end. Behind Middleton's power down low, Concordia outrebounded the Knights 50-33.
Tarr led Warner Pacific with 15 points and was followed by Keaton Bankofier (11) and Doug Thomas (10).