ST. PAUL, Minn. - Thanks to a strong showing from Comet's Crazies students rewards members, Concordia-St. Paul's "Hoops Madness" basketball tip-off event was a huge success. The men's and women's teams were introduced to the public on the eve of the first practice of the basketball season on Wednesday night at Gangelhoff Center.

The event was sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings, located on Snelling Avenue near campus, where anyone who mentions "Concordia Home Team Advantage" will have 10 percent of their bill donated directly to Concordia athletics! Buffalo Wild Wings is also the site of the Golden Bear Insider with Dan Flanagan coaches show on the first Thursday of each month at noon.

MEN'S SLAM DUNK CONTEST
Freshman forward Cole Peters wowed the crowd by winning the men's Slam Dunk Contest to close out the evening, getting perfect 10's from all three Minnesota Vikings judges on both of his dunks. He edged out junior guard Diallo Powell, who scored three 9's on his first round dunk and three 8's on his second round. Peters and Powell advanced after defeating OC Omoregie and David Stanley in the opening round which featured four contestants. The Dunk Contest was judged by Minnesota Vikings Marcus Sherels, Robert Blanton and Concordia alum Zach Moore.

DUNK CONTEST HIGHLIGHTS (for full event highlights, click the primary image above!)


WOMEN'S SKILL CONTEST
Prior to the men's Slam Dunk Contest, the women had a skills competition which included ball handling, passing, speed, shooting and layups. Anna Schmitt defeated Nicole Parsons in the finals despite falling slightly behind after it took an additional couple of seconds to collect her made shot while Parsons' bounced right to her. Schmitt caught up and although Parsons fired her shot just before Schmitt, it was Schmitt's shot that went through the net first as both players made their final shot.

In the first round, Schmitt defeated Anna Rollag while Parsons knocked off Mishayla Jones.

PHOTO GALLERY - Images by Justin Oakman

CU Basketball Hoops Madness event 10.14.2015 - Images by Justin Oakman

COMET'S CRAZIES & STUDENT-ATHLETE FAN INTERACTION
The evening was geared at student fan interaction with the student-athletes, with the first event directed solely towards the student spectators in the Comet's Crazies Relay Race. It was Ryan Poppitz and Noah Ostlund finishing ahead of Teghan Norman and Antonio Zepeda to capture the evening's first Wing Party of 6 from Buffalo Wild Wings.

Following the fan relay race was the free throw contest where two fans were teamed up with two men's players, and two fans were teamed up with two women's players in a men's versus women's format. It was the women's team that pulled out a 20-17 win over the men, with Courtney Lyons and Julie Hagert helping Roch Whittaker and Akeem Thompson win the second Wing Party of 6 prize. The men's team was led by players Jon Sobaski and Bryndan Matthews with student participation from America Gray and Kyle Horstmann.

THREE-POINT SHOOTOUT: MEN v WOMEN
In the three-point contest, the winner of the three women and the winner of the three men's shooters squared off in a women's versus men's showdown. The first round featured women's shooters Lauren Shifflett with 11, Hanna Vidlund with 10 and Kayla Miller who advanced with 12. On the men's side, in order it was Cole Olstad with 13, Matt Ambriz advancing with 15 and Steven Kragt with nine.

In the finals of a pair of second year players, Miller and Ambriz each started out on fire but it was the defending champion Ambriz who retained his title by sinking 15 to hold off Miller's 13. The result was Michael Prochno winning a Wing Party of 6 over Zach Rengel.

SHOOTING STARS CONTEST
In the shooting starts competition, a fan was paired with a men's player and a women's player. The fan was tasked with making a layup followed by a men's player making a shot from the elbow and a women's player making a three-pointer. Then, all three teammates began taking halfcourt shots. Two teams squared off with the winning team earning a Wing Party of 6 for the fan on their team.

It was the newest member of the women's team, Kari Opatz and Brandon McRoy along with Kelsey Timm defeating Jordyn Dudley, Shea Mandli and Steven Nessler despite the Dudley/Mandli/Nessler squad getting off to a huge lead and attempting a number of half court shots before the Opatz/McRoy/Timm squad reached the final shot level. It was McRoy sinking the game-winner to win the Wing Party of 6 for Timm.

BUFFALO WILD WINGS: BLAZIN' CHALLENGE
The event concluded with Buffalo Wild Wings' Blazin' Challenge at center court where six Comet's Crazies members squared off to see who could finish six Blazin' Wings first. Kody Knaus won the challenge, defeating baseball teammates Alex Eernisse and Yuji Suzuki along with track athletes John Gibbs and Nesro Wado and football player Alquawn Vickers.