BOX SCORE

POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH HEAD COACH STAN BONEWITZ

Austin, Texas – Darius Anderson contributed 23 points off the bench in leading the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team to a 93-92 win over Louisiana College on Monday, Dec. 19 at the CTX Field House. In a contest that featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes, the Tornados got a key steal from Kenny Williams in the final second to escape with a victory for the fifth time in the last six games.

Louisiana College had three chances to win the game in the waning seconds. Philip George called a timeout with 6.1 seconds remaining after grabbing an offensive rebound off a missed 3-poiinter by Jarrod Jackson that could have put the Wildcats ahead.

Following the timeout, Jackson got the ball again and missed an 18-foot jumper as the horn sounded to apparently signal the end of regulation. The referees, however, had a conference and determined that there would be one second on the clock to give the Wildcats another opportunity to win the ballgame. But Williams came up big by intercepting the pass and dribbling out at the top of the key what was left on the clock, allowing the Tornados to escape with the one-point victory.

Concordia (5-3, ASC 4-2) burst out to a 9-4 advantage by getting seven straight points from Nick Haynes in the opening minutes. The Tornados maintained a lead for most of the frame, but the Wildcats came back by scoring 11 unanswered. Jelani Mitchell canned two free throws to put the Wildcats ahead with 6:40 left before making a fastbreak layup on Louisiana College's next possession to make it 28-25. Concordia, however, got a buzzer-beating jumper from Williams to go up by one at the break.

The hosts continued to hold a slim advantage in the early stages of the second half until Philip George drove in for a layup and completed an old-fashioned, three-point play to put Louisiana College up by two points with 18:14 remaining. A 3-pointer by Williams put Concordia up by a 58-51 score and seemingly in control, but the Wildcats fought back to tie it up at 58-all on a Mitchell trey.

The teams played each other close the rest of the way with neither side going ahead by more than six points. Louisiana College sank consecutive 3-point field goals courtesy of Danny Sumner and Doc Welch to knot the score at 91s with under two minutes left, creating what would be a photo finish.

After Josh Johnson made a turnaround layup to put Concordia ahead by a 93-91 score, Derrick Gardner was fouled while driving to the hoop from the right side and had an opportunity to tie the game again at the 1:19 mark. The Wildcat, however, made only one of two  before Jackson would miss two field goal opportunities in the final seconds to send the team home with the loss.

Anderson scored 15 of his 23 points at the free throw line and also added four assists and three steals. Nick Haynes scored 18 points, which included sinking four more shots from downtown, while Williams added 12 points and six assists. Johnson fell just shy of a double-double with 16 points and nine boards in a reserve role. Concordia had a commanding 47-22 advantage in bench points.

Louisiana College (4-4, ASC 4-3) was led by Mitchell, who scored a game-high 26 points in just 23 minutes of action before fouling out. George posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jackson netted 16 points.

Concordia will welcome Concordia-Chicago and Wisconsin-Stout for the CTX Christmas Classic on Dec. 29-30 and face Concordia-Chicago on the first day at 7:30 p.m.