Box Score
Nov. 21, 2012 - The Concordia Cougars fell to 0-3 on the season tonight with a 74-62 home loss to Bethany Lutheran College of Mankato, Minnesota.
The Cougars got out to a quick 4-0 lead on baskets by Marcus Elston (Chicago, IL/Benito Juarez) and Marlin Vilius (Eustis, FL/H.S.). The Vikings came back to tie the game at 7-7, but Masson Prowse's (Sacramento, CA/Rio Americano) bucket on the fast break put Concordia back on top briefly.
Concordia then hit a dry spell in missing nine straight shots from the field while the visitors scored seven straight for a 14-9 lead. Two baskets by Taylor Rawlings (Rochester Hills, MI/Stoney Creek) sandwiched around a Bethany basket put Concordia within 16-13, but the Vikings then hit the Cougars from the outside. A three by Alex Weldon and two more from Garrett Benson put the lead at 25-13. Three free throws completed a 12-0 spree before Khirey Floyd's (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) putback ended the run. Bethany kept their lead in double digits for all but a few seconds the rest of the half and went in at halftime leading 43-33.
A Gavin Kroehler tip-in and a Weldon three opened the second half. The lead grew to 16 before the Cougars clawed back. Prowse scored a couple of close-in baskets, and Brandon Johnson (Chicago, IL/Gordon Tech) went inside for a couple of scores as Concordia drew to within 55-49 with 11:15 remaining.
The Vikings recovered and boosted their lead back to 13, but the Cougars had one more run in them. Rawlings hit a three, and Elston converted a three-point play underneath to bring the Cougars witin seven. Following a missed three by Bethany, Johnson hit a jumper to make the score Vikings 65, Cougars 60 with 5:03 left.
The momentum was halted at that point, however. Following Johnson's basket, the Vikings beat the Cougars down the floor as Deon Wright scored on a layup just seconds later. Jacob Wensmann added another fast break score after a missed three by Rawlings, and Bethany closed the game with a 9-2 run to capture their first victory of the year.
Johnson shot 3-5 from the field and hit all eight of his free throws to lead Concordia with 14 points. Elston added nine points on 3-4 from the field and 3-3 at the line. Derek Peterson led Bethany with 16 points while Benson followed with 11. The Vikings shot 45 percent from the field on 26-58 including 9-19 (47 percent) from behind the arc. The Cougars shot 21-55 for 38 percent but were just 3-20 (15 percent) on threes.
Concordia will travel to Dubuque, Iowa on Saturday for a 4:00 game against Loras College.
