Racers Rally to Edge Out Concordia 89-85

LIMA, OH - UNOH fell behind by double-figures in the first half but rallied to come back in the second, holding on for a four-point win over Concordia 89-85

Halfway through the first half, the Cardinals took their largest lead of the game 27-15 but it didn't last long as UNOH got hot and went on a 16-2 run to take over the lead 32-29 with 4:36 left. The game stayed tight from there but Concordia finished off the final six points to lead by two at the break. After the Cardinals expanded their lead to seven, the Racers thing pulled things back again with an 8-0 run to go up 59-58 with 10:51 to play. No more than two possessions separated the teams the rest of the way as the game bounced back-and-forth. UNOH knocked down six of eight free throw attempts down the stretch to ice the game and take the win, 89-85.

"I'm proud of our guys," said head coach Richard Westerlund, "they really stayed true to our system and trusted each other. Coming back from twelve down they never wavered. We showed a lot of growth since the start of the season."

Ryan Archey finished with a team-high 22 points shooting 8-13 (62%) from the field. Grant Pikkaart scored 13 and grabbed a team-high eight boards with five steals and five assists. Marquis Freeman and Jayden Priddy-Powell each added eleven off the bench. Freeman had a perfect night going 4-4 from the field, 1-1 from long range, and 2-2 from the charity stripe while pulling down seven rebounds with five assists, both season highs.

"I love seeing a balanced scoring attack," continued Westerlund, "and I thought we did a really good job executing late in the game to keep CUAA at bay."

UNOH will enter their first full week of conference games next week when they head to Siena Heights Wednesday, November 29, before returning home to face No. 24 Lourdes on Saturday.