Honolulu, Hawaii — Brian McFadden hit a jumper in the key with 1.7 seconds left in the game to lift defending NAIA Division I champion Concordia University (Irvine, Calif.) to an 80-79 win over 2003 NCAA Division III runner-up Gustavus Adolphus (St. Peter, Minn.) at McCabe Gym on the campus of Chaminade University. The winning basket came 18 seconds after Chris TeBrake gave the Gusties a chance to win the game with a lay up on an assist from Doug Espenson.
Gustavus (4-3) led 38-33 at halftime, but the Eagles (8-1) came back to take their first lead of the second half (47-45) after five consecutive points by Jeremy Groth. The teams traded leads until a three-pointer by Clint Hull gave Concordia its biggest lead at 71-66 with 6:10 to play. The lead remained 78-73 before the Gusties scored six straight points over the final 2:45 to take their short-lived lead on TeBrake’s basket.
Nick Vanderlaan and Tanner Luster scored 18 points apiece to lead the Eagles. Groth added 17 points, while Torin Beeler finished with 14.
Phil Sowden topped GAC with 16 points and TeBrake and Espensen chipped in with 15 points each.
Concordia finished the Whitworth Hawaiian Classic with a record of 2-0. Gustavus will play Thomas More at 1:00 pm on Sunday.
(Story courtesy of Steve Flegel, Whitworth SID)
CONCORDIA (CALIF.) 80, GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 79
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS (4-3)
Phil Sowden 6-9 4-4 16; Chris TeBrake 7-12 0-0 15; Doug Espenson 5-8 2-3 15; Adam TeBrake 3-5 6-6 12; Tim Brown 4-9 0-1 9; Brett Boese 1-1 3-4 5; Adam Thorson 2-3 0-0 4; Eric Nelson 0-4 2-4 2. Totals 28-51 18-24 79.
CONCORDIA (CALIF.) (8-1)
VANDERLAAN, Nick 7-8 4-5 18; LUSTER, Tanner 4-8 10-13 18; GROTH, Jeremy 5-13 4-4 17; BEELER, Torin 3-6 8-15 14; HULL, Clint 2-5 0-0 6; VICTOR, Chris 1-5 0-0 3; LUCAS, D.J. 1-2 0-0 2; McFADDEN, Brian 1-3 0-3 2. Totals 24-50 26-40 80.
Gustavus Adolphus…………. 38 41 – 79
Concordia (Calif.)………… 33 47 – 80
3-point goals-Gustavus Adolphus 5-12 (Doug Espenson 3-4; Tim Brown 1-2; Chris TeBrake 1-2; Eric Nelson 0-3; Adam TeBrake 0-1), Concordia (Calif.) 6-20 (GROTH, Jeremy 3-9; HULL, Clint 2-5; VICTOR, Chris 1-4; LUCAS, D.J. 0-1; McFADDEN, Brian 0-1). Fouled out–Gustavus Adolphus-None, Concordia (Calif.)-VICTOR, Chris. Rebounds-Gustavus Adolphus 30 (Eric Nelson 5; Tim Brown 5; Phil Sowden 5), Concordia (Calif.) 31 (VANDERLAAN, Nick 9). Assists-Gustavus Adolphus 22 (Adam TeBrake 6), Concordia (Calif.) 18 (McFADDEN, Brian 7). Total fouls-Gustavus Adolphus 30, Concordia (Calif.) 20.