SEWARD, Neb. – The Bulldogs led No. 19 Midland, 59-52, with less than three-and-a-half minutes remaining. The Warriors showed toughness on the road, ending the game on a 12-0 that allowed them to pull out a 64-59 road victory in an affair unlike the many GPAC shootouts that have taken place throughout this season.
Fourth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad saw its five-game win streak come to a halt. During which, Concordia had found comfort in tight, late-game situations. The Bulldogs slipped to 12-7 overall and to 4-6 in conference play.
“Offensively we’re going to have some off shooting nights,” Limback said. “Tonight was one of those. I like how we defended despite our offensive struggles. You’re not going to win a lot of games shooting 44 percent. A lot of the credit goes to Midland.”
The national leader in both field goal and 3-point percentage entering the night, Concordia slumped in the second half, going just 9-for-26 (.346) from the field. The Bulldogs missed their last nine field goal attempts of the night. Midland sealed its fourth-straight victory in the closing seconds when Nick Harden swiped a shot right out of the hands of Seth Curran, who was rising up for a potential game-tying trey.
The Warriors took the lead for good when Damon Overton sliced through the Bulldog defense for two of his team high 17 points. The Warriors then led by one (60-59) with just over a minute remaining. After an empty Concordia possession, Harden knocked in two more to provide a three-point Midland advantage.
The Warriors (14-5, 7-2 GPAC) won despite Alex Starkel fouling out with 3:40 left in the game. They also had to overcome a double-double from Folkerts (16 points, 13 rebounds) and a productive night from sophomore guard Chris Johnstone (17 points, five rebounds), who returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday.
Concordia came up just short on a night when prolific outside marksmen Eli Ziegler and Tanner Shuck combined to go 1-for-11 from beyond the arc. Ziegler finished with nine points while Shuck was held to four. The Bulldogs shot 43.8 percent (21-for-48), contributing to a season low point total.
Starkel ended up with eight points and six rebounds. Chase Parsons provided the Warriors a lift off the bench. He poured in 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Midland shot 41.0 percent (25-for-61) from the floor, but made up for some of its shooting woes by turning it over just seven times.
The Bulldogs had been gunning for their fifth win of the season over a top-25 opponent. Concordia is now 8-2 at home on the campaign.
The Bulldogs will close the weekend with another ranked opponent on the docket. Concordia will be at the Corn Palace on Sunday for a 4 p.m. CT tipoff at No. 13 Dakota Wesleyan (16-5, 7-2 GPAC). In this season’s first meeting, the Bulldogs ran away from the Tigers by a 95-79 final score in a game played inside Walz Arena on Dec. 3.