Colchester, VT – The Concordia College Clippers men's basketball team concluded the DoubleTree Doc Jacobs Classic Tournament hosted by St. Michael's College this evening. In a showdown with Franklin Pierce College, the Clippers fell 82-79 as they attempted a late game comeback.
The Ravens began the first half scoring on their first five shot attempts to take an early 11-4 lead. From here, Franklin Pierce would dominate the first half of play as they were able to put 50 points on the scoreboard and held Concordia to only 29. The Clippers came out of the locker room looking to overcome the 21 point deficit in the second half and they would give the Ravens a run for their money.
After a layup by sophomore guard Norman Pope (Washington, D.C.) at the 14:52 mark, Concordia went on a run in the next seven and a half minutes to cut Franklin Pierce's lead to only 10. It was not until a jump shot by freshman forward Tshyrad Oates (Union City, NJ) that the Clippers would cut the deficit to single digits at 74-65 with 2:07 remaining.
A 6-1 run by Concordia brought them to within four points with 56 seconds to play. A quick foul to send the Ravens to the free throw line proved to be beneficial as Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) only converted on one of his free throw attempts and the Clippers had the ball back down by five points.
A quick three-point attempt by junior guard Brandon Whitaker (Harlem, NY) would not fall and neither did Oates' attempt after an offensive rebound for Concordia. After a layup for Franklin Pierce, the Clippers' Lavor Morris (Bronx, NY) drained a three-point attempt cutting the lead to four points.
Morris would hit another three-point shot with 11 seconds remaining after the Raven's hit two free throws. Down by three, Concordia fouled in hopes to have another chance to tie the game but Franklin Pierce sank both free throws to secure their fourth win of the season.
Morris led the Clippers with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field while Pope added 19 points and a team-high four assists for Concordia. As a team, the Clippers shot 46.2% (24-of-52) from the field and shot 22-of-28 (78.6%) from the free throw line. The bench for Concordia outscored Franklin Pierce's bench 39-18.
The Clippers (3-2, 0-0 CACC) will now have a long break until their next game. Concordia will play on the road against Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) foe Felician College on Wednesday, November 30th. The Clippers will take to the court at 8pm in Rutherford, NJ for their first conference game of the season.