ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's and women's basketball teams kicked off their seasons on Wednesday, October 18th with Hoops Madness sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings as students and fans were able to meet the teams at the event hosted at Gangelhoff Center.
The event is tailored at student engagement while introducing the basketball teams to the public shortly after the teams conduct their first in-season practice sessions.
Avan Ward repeated as the three-point champion by defeating
Hanna Vidlund in the finals while defending champion
Anna Schmitt was knocked off in the skill competition as
Ellie Gess went on to claim the title. In the dunk contest,
Evan Wesenberg and
Cody Carlson went to a dunk-off to break the tie after their first two dunks as Wesenberg edged Carlson by just a point in the event.
In the free throw contest,
Sydney Weierke and track and field athlete Anna Ripke pulled away in the finals against
Max Keefe and volleyball player Sydney Book.
Brianna Miller,
Bryndan Matthews and football player Jerrod Clersaint also came home with a victory in the shooting starts competition as Matthews sunk the half-court shot to knock off
Kyrah Fredenburg,
Brandon McRoy and volleyball player Taylor Soine.
The event also included another rendition of the Blazin' Challenge as three students and an assistant coach squared off in a contest to see who could eat the most Blazin' wings in six minutes.
The men's team opens up exhibition play on Nov. 2
nd at Williams Arena against the University of Minnesota before opening up the regular season in Arkansas against Arkansas-Monticello and Arkansas Tech on Nov. 10
th and 11
th. They will return home for the home opener on Nov. 14 against North Central.
The women's team begins the year with a pair of non-conference games in Kansas City, Mo. against Pittburg State and Harding on Nov. 10
th and 11
th before hosting four straight non-conference home contests. The first of which, the team's home opener, is scheduled for Nov. 16
th against Northern Michigan.
