Eagles Advance to GSAC Title Game, 70-65

Box Score 

(3/8/08 - Men's Basketball) IRVINE - For the second-straight season, Concordia will play for the GSAC Tournament championship as the top-seeded Eagles knocked off #4-seeded Point Loma Nazarene, 70-65, Saturday evening in the tournament semifinal round at the CU Arena.

Senior guard Ryan Read continued his hot shooting, connecting on six three-pointers to finish with a game-high 22 points. The all-GSAC guard has put down six treys in four of his last six games, averaging 20.8 points per game during that stretch.

"Right now, it's a confidence thing for me," said Read, who leads the Eagles in scoring with 16.4 points per game. "We have such good athletes that when they drive, you have to pay attention to them. After that, I get looks and it opens up a lot because I have good players around me."

When the two teams met back on February 19 in San Diego, the Eagles took advantage of a wounded Point Loma squad to the tune of a 104-72 victory. While the Eagles were able to build a 16-point lead with 1:38 left in the first half with the idea of pressing for more, the Sea Lions responded with the last eight points of the opening stanza, then used a 7-1 spurt to open the second half to trail by just three.

"They came out with a chip on their shoulder tonight," said Read about the Sea Lions, who had won five-straight games by an average of over 15 points per game heading into the semifinal contest. "They got embarrassed at their place and they did not want that to happen again. In the beginning, it was looking like that might happen again. But, there was a point where they turned it on and switched the game around."

Behind a tight defense that held the Eagles to a .345 shooting clip (10-of-29) after the break and the rebounding prowess of Brian Ormon, the Sea Lions managed to stay within contact throughout the second half. Ormon, who had 13 of his game-high 24 rebounds on the offensive end, helped the Sea Lions to 12 second-chance points in the second half. The Sea Lions also limited their turnovers to just eight after 14 giveaways in the first half.

"The last two teams we've played are so big and strong inside and it's a tough matchup for us," said head coach Ken Ammann, who takes the Eagles to their 5th tournament title game in his 7-year tenure. "Our guys fought hard. Ormon was tremendous tonight. I'm just glad we got that last rebound."

Though the Sea Lions were able to tie the score twice in the second half, Concordia never trailed in the second half and responded to the deadlock. Even at 45-45 with 14:13 to play, Joe Roberson converted a conventional three-point play, then Adam Greenaway drove the lane for a jumper before Ben Smith hit a free throw to quickly regain a six-point cushion.

The lead swelled to nine after a three-point play by Terrence Worthy, but the Sea Lions answered with a three-pointer by Josh Sanderson. They kept pressing and cut the gap to just two after a put-back by Curtis Carlson with 4:44 remaining.

Worthy and Rafael Da Silva each hit a pair of free throws around a missed jumper in the lane by Ormon to again push the lead to six. The teams traded baskets to a 67-63 Concordia lead, then Ormon tipped in a missed three-pointer by Casey Ortiz to make it 67-65 with 43 seconds left.

Worthy was fouled again and converted both free throws to reclaim the four-point advantage. Sanderson was off the mark on a three-pointer, but the Eagles were unable to keep possession of the rebound. Noble'D Shelton got another look from distance, but Smith pulled down the loose ball and hit 1-of-2 free throws to ice the win.

"It goes to show that nothing that happens in the regular season matters in the postseason," said Ammann. "Point Loma could not have been a more difficult opponent tonight. Wins are hard to come by when you get out of the regular season."

Worthy chipped in with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals for the Eagles, who have now won eight-straight games. Roberson led the rebounding effort with 8 while Smith added 9 points and 6 boards.

Ormon tossed in 18 points for Point Loma Nazarene (24-9). Ortiz added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists while Carlson had 11 points and 7 rebounds.

Concordia (27-4) takes on 2nd-seeded California Baptist, a 82-80 overtime winner over #3-seeded Azusa Pacific, on Tuesday, March 11 in the GSAC Tournament championship game starting at 7:30 p.m.