Jourdan Sweeney scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds
Buzzer-Beater Gives Willamette 86-84 Win Over Concordia
BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – Taylor Mounts’ three-pointer at the buzzer completed Willamette’s 10-point comeback in the final five minutes to defeat Concordia 86-84 in a non-conference men’s basketball game Friday night at Cone Field House.
The loss drops Concordia’s record to 4-7. Willamette improves to 3-5 with the win.
Willamette took an early six-point lead, 12-6 in the first three minutes of the contest, but the Cavaliers scored the next seven points and held the advantage through most of the first half. Concordia’s biggest lead of the period came 1:02 before the break, when Adam Herman’s layup gave CU a 51-42 lead. The Bearcats scored the final five points of the period to go into the half trailing by four at 51-47.
The Bearcats pulled ahead by five in the opening minutes of the second half, leading 62-57 with 15:23 to play. Concordia tied it on a Jourdan Sweeney free throw with 13:34 remaining, and Dustin Hiebert’s three-pointer gave CU a 66-63 lead 19 seconds later. Willamette tied it up at 66 apiece, but the Cavaliers used a 14-4 run to take their biggest lead of the contest, 80-70 with 4:52 remaining in the game.
Willamette responded by scoring nine of the next 11 points to pull within two at 81-79, and the Bearcats tied it up at 83-83 with 39 seconds to play. A foul on the ensuing play sent Sweeney to the free throw line with eight seconds remaining and a chance to give CU the lead.
Sweeney made the first free throw to put the Cavs up 84-83, but the second shot was rebounded by Robbie Kunke, giving Taylor Mounts just enough time to get off a shot from beyond the arc before time expired. The buzzer sounded and the ball went through the net to give Willamette its second win over CU in the final seconds this season. The Bearcats defeated Concordia 89-88 on Nov. 18 on a layup with two seconds remaining.
Five Concordia players reached double-figures in the scoring column, led by Sweeney (Los Angeles, Calif./St. Bernard H.S.) and Dunn (Vancouver, Wash./Mountain View H.S.), who each contributed 17 points. Sweeney also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Adam Herman (Vancouver, Wash./Prairie H.S.) scored 16 points for the Cavaliers, and Hiebert and Drew Preuninger (Camas, Wash./Camas H.S.) each added 11 in the loss.
Sean Dart led all players with 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting for the Bearcats. Dart also grabbed 11 rebounds to earn the double-double. Ryan Meehan scored 21 for Willamette and Mounts finished with 13.
Concordia returns to action Dec. 17, when the Cavaliers return to Cascade Collegiate Conference play hosting Warner Pacific in a game scheduled for 5:30 p.m.