Men’s Basketball Finds Ways to Win Down the Stretch

Southfield, MI – The Lawrence Technological University men’s basketball team tipped off their conference schedule at home against the Concordia University Cardinals. The Blue Devils got off to a slow start, but battled back as a team and hit some clutch shots down the stretch. LTU took care of home court with a win over the Cardinals by a final score of 74-70.

Brandon Beavers led all scorers with 29 points and eight rebounds. LTU had four more players in double figures on the night including Carter Frantz, Gunnar Gustafson, and Andrew Rinn all ending with 11, and Isaiah Cumberland finished with 10. LTU out rebounded the Cardinals 39-36 and finished the game with 14 assists.

The Blue Devils could not buy a bucket in the opening minutes of the game as CUAA jumped out to a 15-2 lead in the first five minutes of action.

Beavers ended their run with a made layup. Alek Ivanovic made it 22-13 after a tough made layup with 12:35 on the clock in the first half.

After a missed three-pointer from the visitors, Frantz snatched a rebound and came down on the other end, barring a three-pointer, to cut the lead to 24-20.

With 7:39 left, Gustafson was at the line to sink two free throws that tied the game at 26 apiece.

LTU started clicking and finding their rhythm after their slow start. Their first lead came when Beavers found a gap and got downhill to put his team up one. 

Concordia’s Thomas Hronis made a three-pointer that gave them a five-point lead with just under two minutes remaining.

LTU entered the locker room down 45-37. Beavers and Gustafson combined for 23 first-half points. The team shot 50% from the field, 21.1% from deep, and 66.7% from the line.

The Blue Devils came out and struggled in the opening minutes of the second half as CUAA was able to extend their lead to 17 points.

Frantz nailed another three to cut the deficit to 11. 

Things started to get interesting with just under eight minutes to go as LTU trailed 63-53.

Six free throws in a row from Cumberland, Gustafson, and Rinn made it 63-61 with 3:28 to play right before LTU called a timeout.

In those four minutes, LTU shut down the Cardinals on the defensive end, going on a 12-0 run late in the game. Rinn came down at the top of the key and knocked down an iso-jumper at the free throw line to put his team up 65-63 to get the crowd on their feet as Concordia called a timeout

Next possession down, Cumberland spotted up in the corner and drilled a clutch three-pointer to put the Blue Devils up five with 38 seconds left.

The Cardinals were then forced to foul and LTU made their free throws down the stretch to come out on top by a final score of 74-70.

The team shot it 41.1% from the field, 21.4% from three, and 81.5% from the line.

The next Blue Devils (3-3) matchup is on Saturday, November 13th on the road against the Saints of Siena Heights University. This game will tip-off at 5 pm.