Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University hosted No. 24 Concordia University on Wednesday night in a Great Plains Athletic Conference matchup. The Warriors handed the Bulldogs their first conference loss of the season with an 82-67 ranked win.
Concordia opened the game with a basket and two free throws for a 4-0 run. Back-to-back baskets by Amari Rahaman and Butch Lordeus tied the game at 4-4, and Lordeus followed with a three-pointer to give Midland a 7-4 edge. Concordia responded with a three of its own as both teams traded baskets to make it 9-9, prompting a Midland timeout just five minutes into the game.
After the break, the Bulldogs heated up with a 10-0 run as Midland called another timeout trailing 19-9. The Warriors answered with an 8-0 run, sparked by two baskets from Jeff Rozelle III and free throws from Rahaman and Lordeus to close the gap to 19-17. Following two Bulldog free throws, Nick Dolezal battled inside for a bucket to make it 21-19. Lordeus electrified the crowd with a dunk to tie it at 21-21, leading to a Concordia timeout.
Momentum swung to Midland as Jake Orr and Lordeus combined for a 6-0 run to push the lead to 27-21, and the Warriors later stretched it to double digits with a 9-0 run led by Cole Petersen. Concordia scored the final basket of the half, but Midland entered the locker room with a 36-24 advantage.
Concordia opened the second half with a three-pointer as both teams traded baskets. Midland held a slight edge in the exchange, going up 53-38 before taking a timeout. Out of the break, the Warriors extended the lead to 20 at 60-40, though Concordia answered with a three before calling a timeout. Orr kept the momentum going, sparking a 9-3 run to build a 69-46 lead.
Concordia chipped away with a pair of runs, including 7-0 and 10-2 bursts, cutting the deficit to 75-67 as Midland used multiple timeouts to stop the surges. Out of the final timeout, Dolezal scored, and the Warriors sealed the game with four free throws from Orr and one from Rahaman to secure the 82-67 victory.
Four Warriors scored in double figures. Rozelle posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Rahaman also scored 19, while Lordeus and Orr added 15 points each.
Midland shot 30-of-64 (46.9%) from the field while Concordia finished 25-of-55 (45.5%). The Warriors outrebounded the Bulldogs 44-31 and scored 16 points off Concordia’s 16 turnovers.
“Concordia is a very good team offensively, so we knew we had to be solid on defense, which is something we’ve been preaching all year,” Rozelle III said. “We have a great group of guys who have bought into our mission and vision. This is just a product of what we practice and what we strive to do together as a group.”
“Being able to switch defensively was important,” head coach Tyler Erwin said. “I think our physicality and length bothered them tonight. We made hustle plays, got offensive rebounds, loose balls, and did great things defensively. Our shots didn’t fall early, but we finished strong in the last eight minutes of the first half. We put all of our energy and effort into defending, and we made shots tonight. When we can stretch the floor with our length and guard the way we have been while keeping that toughness factor, I really like what we’re doing.
“We’ve had some moving pieces, and our flexibility and athleticism are our identity. We talked yesterday about taking it one game at a time. We’ve played well on the road, and I like our trajectory. It’s never perfect, but we’re striving for perfection—that’s an old Coach McGill saying. He’s helped us in so many ways, keeping us grounded and not getting too high or too low.” commented head coach Tyler Erwin.
Midland (6-5, 4-2 GPAC) will travel to Orange City, Iowa to face No.16 Northwestern College (11-3, 3-3 GPAC) on Saturday, December 13th. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. inside the Bultman Center.
