minneapolis, minn. - bowling green state university used an 18-2 run in the first half spanning nine minutes of play during which concordia university (0-2) didn't convert a field goal. They were never able to etch into bowling green's 26-8 lead as the golden bears fell 82-61 on the final day of the nabc classic at williams arena at the university of minnesota. box score
concordia struggled from the field early but were boosted by three-pointers by senior guard matt cadwell (st. Paul, minn.) and junior forward craig heiman (marshall, wis.) as they trailed 8-6 at the first media timeout at 15:16 in the first half.
that's when the drought struck the golden bears, who missed 12 consecutive field goals and committed seven turnovers during the stretch that spanned from heiman's three-pointer at 15:39 until cadwell buried his second three-pointer of the game with 6:38 in the half.
concordia received a first half boost off the bench from junior forward thomas bassett (denison, iowa) who had four points and four rebounds in 11 minutes. He finished the game with four points, not attempting a second half shot, but pulled down six rebounds on the night in 22 minutes of work to lead the cu bench.
in the first half, concordia shot just 21.2 percent (7-33) from the field while bowling green hit at a 51.6 percent (16-31) clip to build a 38-19 lead.
for the rest of the game, concordia played with the falcons, an ncaa division i member competing in the mac, never allowing the lead to swell larger than 24 points while cutting it to 14 twice in the second half.
in the second half, concordia upped their shooting considerably, hitting 42.3 percent (11-26) from the floor while the falcons shot 50.0 percent (15-30) once again. Cu was only outscored by two points in the second half, scoring 42 against the falcons, who poured in 44 points.
concordia was led in scoring by heiman, who fired four three-pointers and scored a team-high 18 points and scored 60 points in the three game nabc classic. He also added five rebounds while playing 32 minutes.
cadwell finished with 12 points after scoring eight in the first half. Junior guard mike cunningham (minneapolis, minn.) scored 14 second half points and finished with 16. He was aggressive in the second half, driving through the heart of the bowling green defense. He was 5-11 from the field but reached the foul line eight times, connecting on six. He also had five rebounds for cu.
speaking of rebounding, concordia fared well against the bigger, more physical falcons. Cu pulled down 17 offensive rebounds to bgsu's 10. Bowling green did out rebound concordia, but only by one, 38-37. Junior guard sammy ricks (st. Paul, minn.) led cu's rebounding effort with seven, while also scoring six points, dishing five assists with three steals.
bowling green had a pair of perimeter shooters that were too much for concordia to handle as darryl clements and brian moten scored 22 and 21 points, respectively. The duo combined to shoot 18-30, each hitting nine shots from the floor.
bgsu's aggressive defense forced 17 concordia turnovers and turned those into 18 falcon points while cu scored just seven points off 14 falcon turnovers.
concordia returns to the hardwood next sunday, november 23 when they host augsburg college at 4:00 p.m. In their gangelhoff center opener for 2008-09.
photos courtesy justin oakman photography
