SEWARD, Neb. – Things fell apart offensively in the second half on Saturday (Nov. 17) for the Concordia University men’s basketball team. Jamestown limited the Bulldogs to 28 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes and built a lead as large as 20 points in a 74-61 victory for the visitors from North Dakota. Concordia had trailed by six points (55-49) with just over 12 minutes to play.
Sixth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad had hoped to keep alive what had been an unblemished home record. Instead, the Bulldogs slipped to 4-3 overall and to 1-3 in the GPAC.
“There is a lot of stuff we need to improve on and grow in,” Limback said. “Our execution was not sharp. They did a good job. Jamestown put good pressure on us and really disrupted us. I didn’t feel like we handled it. We just got out of sync. There was a lot of one-on-one stuff and it certainly shows in the stats.”
The Jimmies entered the game known more as an offensive-minded team that had been averaging 101.1 points per game. In a contest with fewer possessions than what Jamestown had gotten used to, the 21 Concordia turnovers were a killer. The Bulldogs opened up the second half by turning the ball over five times in the first three minutes. The last one led to a Jon Purintun trey that boosted the Jimmie lead to 15 (53-38).
Concordia did show some fight by getting within six on the strength of a triple by Tanner Shuck at the 12:27 mark of the second half. Shuck and company just couldn’t knock down enough of those to keep pace. Shuck endured a 4-for-14 shooting day while the team went just 5-for-19 (.263) from 3-point range. Brevin Sloup (14 points, five rebounds) and Shuck (12 points, four steals) were the Bulldog scoring leaders.
A bright spot off the bench shined through in freshman Tanner Wubbels, who notched 10 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes. Said Limback, “I thought he competed tonight and we just need more of that from other guys, too.”
Jamestown (7-1, 2-1 GPAC) got a big performance from Terrell Alfred (18 points, 4-for-7 from 3-point range) in a reserve role. Jimmie star guard Kevin Oberweiser produced a line of 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. Meanwhile, Brock Schrom added 12 points and four blocked shots. Jamestown shot 45.3 percent (29-for-64) as a team.
So far this season, a lot of the scoring load has been shouldered by Shuck and Sloup, the team’s most veteran players. Freshman Carter Kent (eight points, 3-for-4 from the field) will likely take on a bigger role as he gains more experience.
“I thought there was a moment there with about seven or eight minutes left where we got three or four stops in a row,” Limback said. “We just couldn’t get that big bucket to get over that hump. You have to do that against these good teams.”
The Bulldogs will quickly turn around and play Monday in Forest City, Iowa, home to Waldorf University (3-3). Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT. Concordia will also be at NCAA Division I University of North Dakota for an exhibition at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.