GPAC

[Men's Basketball] Men's Basketball Drops Semifinal Game; Awaits NAIA Fate

Doane Men's Basketball played another close game on Saturday afternoon with one possession determining the outcome. Unfortunately unlike Wednesday's GPAC Quarterfinal win, the Tigers came out on the short end of a 67-65 decision at Concordia in the conference tournament semifinals. The loss drops the Tigers to 19-13 overall and now they will wait until Thursday's selections are announced for the NAIA National Tournament beginning on March 11.The Tigers opened the game with the first score as Alec Oberhauser (SR/Parkersburg, Iowa) knocked down a 3-point basket 11 seconds into the contest. Concordia would respond with a 7-0 run for a 7-3 lead. The teams went back and forth with the Bulldog lead bouncing between two to five points much of the first half. An 8-2 run by Concordia would stretch the lead to nine points, 28-19, with 4:41 to play in the opening 20 minutes. Doane countered with an 11-2 run to tie the game at 30-all with 2:19 to play. The Bulldogs followed with an 8-2 run over the final two minutes to take a 38-32 lead into the break.Concordia was able to push their lead back to nine points following a 3-point basket to open the second half. Doane would use a 9-2 run to pull back within two points at the 15-minute mark. The Bulldogs would again stretch the lead to eight points on two occasions including a 63-55 lead with 4:42 left in the game.Four different Tigers scored over the next 3:30 of play as Doane tied the game with an 8-0 run. Concordia regained the lead on a baseline layup from Sam Scarpelli with 50 seconds left and Doane tied the game with 21 seconds left on an Anthony Laravie (SR/Omaha, Neb.) layup. The Bulldogs ran the clock under 10 seconds before Carter Kent attacked the basket and knocked down a 13 foot jumper with 3.3 left on the clock. Following a timeout, the Tigers tried to get the ball to half court on the inbounds pass but it was deflected away to send the Bulldogs into Tuesday night's championship game.Laravie led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the floor. Josiah Gardiner (SO/Milford, Neb.) chipped in with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Oberhauser finished with another double-double, posting 11 points and 10 rebounds.Doane shot 47-percent from the floor for the game but was held to 25-percent from behind the arc, going 5-of-20. Concordia shot 46-percent for the game and made 33-percent behind the arc, 7-of-21. The Bulldogs had the advantage at the free throw line, taking two more attempts than Doane and scoring two more points there as well, 10-of-13 compared to 8-of-11.Concordia received 14 points from Gage Smith and 10 points apiece from Kent and Justin Wiersema.