Shuck Scores 26; Bulldogs Hold Off Jimmies
Photo Courtesy of Sonja Brandt
By Elisha Meyer
Tanner Shuck had a career day with 26 points as the Concordia University Bulldogs went off on offense in a monster second-half to defeat the University of Jamestown 86-74 and extend their winning streak to six games.
Neither side was able to pull away with any sort of lead in the opening minutes of the contest. Leads were exchanged between the two squads constantly, with the biggest lead adding up to only four points.
“We weren’t executing and weren’t very focused at times offensively,” Bulldogs coach Ben Limback said.
With the Jimmies still struggling to jumpstart themselves, Concordia finally got some separation. The Bulldogs came alive on offense, hitting a frenzy of threes on the way to a 41-30 halftime lead. Sam Scarpelli hit four of said threes to come up with 12 of his 15 total points in the first half.
“First half, I thought Sam gave us a huge lift offensively,” coach Limback said.
The offense, in no way, slowed down in the second half. Leading the way for Concordia was Tanner Shuck, who posted 17 second-half points to come up with 26 points overall. Carter Kent recorded 17 points in another performance of 15 or more, followed by Scarpelli with 15 and Brevin Sloup with 14 more. These four players also accounted for all eleven threes on the afternoon for the Bulldogs, with all other players going 0-7 from beyond the arc.
The Jimmies started to fight back on offense with success in the second half, finishing with a 43.8 shooting percentage from the field. Leading their scoring effort was Brady Birch, who dominated the Bulldogs inside the paint to record 28 points as well as 10 rebounds, leading all players in both categories. Marc Kjos provided success from three-point range in an eleven-point performance, followed by Brock Schrom with ten.
The Jimmies just couldn’t catch up; however, as the Bulldogs (13-5) increased what is now their longest winning streak of the year at six games. Coach Limback’s squad will look to keep the streak going against Briar Cliff University (11-7) this Saturday.
The University of Jamestown (12-7) will also be facing Briar Cliff this week, as they try to get back in the win column on Wednesday
