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Concordia picks up fourth straight win

A late surge by Phillipsburg didn’t spoil the night for the Concordia Panthers, but did spoil it a bit.
Concordia had a 30-point lead, 63-33, on Phillipsburg with just over a minute to play in the third quarter.
Phillipsburg outscored Concordia 25-7 over the next 8:30 of the game to get as close as 12 points.
Scoring four points in 13 seconds, Concordia was able to make sure the outcome of the game was never in doubt, and went on to post a 76-62 win Tuesday night in the Concordia Junior-Senior High School gymnasium.
“We controlled the game from the get-go, but the last nine minutes we lost a little focus and became complacent,” Concordia coach Brandon Rice said, “Once the game had been decided we had some ill-advised turnovers and, along with that, Phillipsburg hit shots and were able to chip away at the lead.”
Playing at home for the first time since a win over Chapman back on Jan. 13, Concordia recorded its fourth straight win to improve to 13-4.
Scoring the first four points of the game, Concordia never trailed.
Phillipsburg hung around in the first quarter, and trailed just 18-12 when Seth Derr made one of two free throws 16 seconds into the second period.
A layup by Gabe Bergmann started a 16-0 Concordia run that pushed the lead to 34-12.
Drew Erkenbrack scored five points during the spurt. Derick Nordell had a pair of tip-ins and Nathan Gieber knocked down a three.
Nordell came off the bench to score 17 points and pull down 15 rebounds, including nine offensive.
“Derick really stood out off the bench for us. He worked his tail off underneath and was very active. You don’t see a lot of high school kids get 15 boards in a game. That comes with chasing the ball and having a lot of heart,” Rice said.
Phillipsburg used a 10-4 run to make it a 38-22 game.
Baskets by Gabe Bergmann and Erkenbrack put Concordia up 42-22.
Concordia led 45-27 at halftime.
Phillipsburg managed just four free throws in the first 6:44 of the second half.
Nordell scored eight points and Grant Holmes had four as Concordia extended its lead to 61-31.
Holmes matched Nordell with 17 points and had nine rebounds and three assists.
Lucas Crist scored inside for Phillipsburg, but Holmes answered with a 10-foot jumper to make it 63-33 with 1:02 to play in the third quarter.
Consecutive baskets by Sean Newlin left Phillipsburg trailing 63-37 heading into the final eight minutes.
Phillipsburg scored the first two points of the final period on a layup by Derr.
Bergmann scored inside for Concordia.
Phillipsburg then put together a 21-5 run over the next 5:37 to close the gap to 70-58 when Crist hit a three with 1:22 to play in the game.
A three-point play by Bergmann and a free throw by Nordell made sure Phillipsburg would get no closer.
“You don’t want to end on the note we ended on, but what we take from this are some areas where we need to get better,” Rice said.
Bergmann led Concordia with 21 points. He hit 10 of 14 field goal attempts and one of two free throws.
Erkenbrack finished with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“It is always good when you have four people in double figures. I thought we shared the ball well, and for the most part made the extra pass,” Rice said.
Concordia had 16 assists on 30 made field goals.
Newlin scored 16 points for Phillipsburg.
Concordia will play a pair of home games this weekend when it hosts Wamego on Friday night and Hays on Saturday.
PHILLIPSBURG (62)
Sage 2-2-0 7, Newlin 6-4-4 16, Ellis 0-0-3, Derr 2-1-2 5, Sauer 3-0-1 6, Ratzlaff 0-2-0 2, Juenemann 2-0-2 5, Dusin 2-1-2 6, L. Crist 2-1-2 6, Wickham 3-1-3 7, T. Crist 0-2-1 2. 22-14-20 62.
CONCORDIA (76)
Garcia 0-0-2 0, Pounds 1-2-0 4, Erkenbrack 3-6-4 12, Holmes 7-2-2 17, Gieber 1-2-2 5, Nordell 8-1-4 17, Bergmann 10-1-4 21. Totals: 20-14-18 76.

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