Last second shot sends Bulldogs to road defeat

YANKTON, S.D. – Despite a second half of hot shooting from Concordia senior leader Adam Vogt, the Bulldogs fell by a single point, 56-55, to host Mount Marty (4-19, 2-13 GPAC) in Yankton, S.D., on Saturday afternoon. The Lancers’ Chris Richardson sent the Bulldogs to defeat by draining the game-winning 3-pointer with 6.3 seconds left.

First-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad fell to 7-17 overall and 2-13 in GPAC play.

“It shouldn’t have come down to that shot,” Limback said. “We missed five layups in the first half. We just left a lot of points out there. It was a low possession game. Both offenses were patient. We just didn’t execute in the first half.”

Concordia had one last shot to win it when Joel Haywood lofted a floater that misfired just before the final buzzer. That capped a frustrating offensive day in which the Bulldogs shot only 33.3 percent for the game (23.3 percent in the first half).

The second half turned into a seesaw affair in a game that saw 11 lead changes and eight ties. The Bulldogs had hoped to take the lead for good when Vogt drained a pair of free throws with :50 left. The 55-53 advantage held up until Richardson threw in the back-breaking trey.

While Concordia struggled offensively, it gave itself a chance on the road by outrebounding the Lancers 37-26. Sophomore Robby Thomas was a monster on the glass as he snared a career high 15 boards. He also blocked two shots.

“We did a good job on the glass, especially Robby,” Limback said. “We had some stupid turnovers but Robby on the glass made up for some of it. We were able to get some extra possessions because of it.”

Vogt finished with a team high 18 points on the strength of 4-for-7 shooting from downtown. He really got going in the second half when he poured in 13 points. He made critical 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions late in the game to put the Bulldogs in front.

Unfortunately it would not be enough to offset a great afternoon for Richardson, who went for a game high 19 points. He made all three of Mount Marty’s 3-pointers. The Lancers also got 15 points from Bud Smith and another 11 from Alex Irvine. They shot 40.5 percent from the field as a team.

The loss puts 3.5 games out of eighth place with five league games remaining. The top eight teams in the standings advance to the GPAC tournament.

The Bulldogs will play their second of three-straight road games on Wednesday when they drive to Lincoln to challenge Nebraska Wesleyan (10-9, 5-9 GPAC). The Prairie Wolves won the first meeting of the season by a score of 83-57 in Seward. Wesleyan defeated Morningside 86-76 on Saturday.