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Comeback Falls Short Against Saint Michael's 58-55
02/17/2009
Comeback Falls Short Against Saint Michael's 58-55
Bronxville, NY - The Concordia College men's basketball team dropped their third straight game, a 58-55 non-conference decision to the Purple Knights of Saint Michael's College last night at the Meyer Athletic Center in Bronxville, NY.
Sophomore William Eason (Springfield, MA) led the Clippers with a game high 19 points on 9 for 11 (81.8%) shooting from the floor. Eason also collected 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Freshman Daniel Olsen (Stafford, CT) finished with 9 points and 4 rebounds, while senior Alphonso DuHart (Hillside, NJ) added 7 points.
For the Purple Knights, Nate Birr scored 19 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and Alex Berthiaume finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists. Jon Zylstra chipped in 12 points and Tyler Schilling pulled down a game high 16 rebounds.
The game was closely contested throughout most of the first half, as neither team could build a lead larger than 5 points. A short jumper by Olsen cut the Saint Michael's lead to 25-24 at the 5:25 mark of the first half. But Berthiaume and Birr combined for 8 of the next 10 Purple Knight points to close out the half on a 10-3 scoring run a take a 35-27 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the Purple Knights picked-up right where they left off, out scoring the Clippers 9-3 to open up the largest lead of the game at 44-30 with just over 16 minutes remaining. The Clippers would fight back as Eason scored 11 of his 19 points over the next several minutes, including 4 straight baskets, as the Clippers erased a 14 point deficit to take a 51-48 lead.
The Clippers led 53-50 as the Purple Knights scored 7 consecutive points to take a 57-53 lead. Eason connected on another basket to cut the deficit to a single basket. A Concordia foul put Zylstra on the line, where he would hit one out of two shots to push the lead to 3 points. The Clippers would have one last chance as senior Alban Shala (Yorktown Heights, NY) shot a last second three pointer that swirled around the rim and came out at the final buzzard.
The loss drops the Clippers to 6-20 overall and Saint Michael's improves to 8-14 on the season.
Concordia will jump back into East Coast Conference action on Wednesday, February 18th, as they host the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College at the Meyer Athletic Center. The Clippers defeated the Spartans 60-44 back on January 17th in Sparkill, NY. Batista led Concordia with 19 points and Eason scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in that contest. The action kicks-off at 7:00 PM.
