News, Weather and Sports for Lincoln, NE; KLKNTV.comSmith's Late 3-Pointer Lifts Bulldogs to CIT Championship

It was a clean sweep for the CU-Nebraska basketball teams, as the Bulldog men earned a 69-67 win over CU-Wisconsin in the championship game of the 2012 Concordia Invitational Tournament on Saturday evening.  Beau Smith's late 3-pointer lifted the Bulldogs to the championship.  The Bulldogs improved to 11-12 on the year.  CU-Wisconsin dropped to 14-5 with the loss. 

CU-Wisconsin came out firing in the first half.  The Falcons took a 10-3 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by Luke Doedens, and the Bulldogs were forced to take the early timeout.  The Bulldogs rallied, however, and the rest of the half was tightly contested.  The Bulldogs took a 31-29 lead with just 30 seconds remaining in the half, but a tip-in by CU-Wisconsin's Garret Wenzelburger tied the game at 31-31 heading into halftime. 

Neither team led by more than four points in the second half.  The Bulldogs held a 62-58 lead with just over four minutes remaining.  The Falcons rallied with five straight points, and a 3-pointer by Mitchell Schneider gave CU-Wisconsin a 63-62 lead with 2:37 left in regulation.  The Bulldogs used offensive rebounds to reclaim the lead.  Both Smith (McKinney, Texas) and Joel Haywood (Lakewood, Colo.) missed shots, but another offensive rebound and put back by Smith gave the Bulldogs a 64-63 lead. 

The Falcons quickly responded with a pair of made free throws, but the Dogs responded with a big bucket inside by Porter Birtell (Madison, Neb.).  Late in the shot clock, Birtell powered his way to the hoop, and his layup reclaimed the lead (66-65) for the Bulldogs with a minute to play.  The Bulldogs played solid defense on CU-Wisconsin's next possession, but Doedens knocked down a tough jumper to give the Falcons a 67-66 lead with 44 seconds left to play. 

The Bulldogs called a timeout but again were forced to work their offense against the shot clock.  Tyler Byrd (Bennington, Neb.) found Smith open at the head of the key, and the junior forward knocked down the 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs the 69-67 advantage with 13 seconds remaining.  With a chance to tie or potentially take the lead, the Falcons couldn't connect.  The Bulldog defense again forced a tough jumper.  Barrett Braun (Lakeside, Calif.) secured the defensive rebound and was fouled.  Braun missed the front end of the one-and-one, but CU-Wisconsin had just 1.4 seconds remaining.  Smith intercepted the attempted pass to secure the CIT championship for the Bulldogs. 

Offensively, the Bulldogs were 25-of-61 (41 percent) overall, 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from deep, and 11-of-18 (61.1 percent) from the foul line.  The Bulldogs totaled 19 offensive rebounds and held a commanding 49-33 overall rebounding advantage in the contest.  Four of the five starters reached double figures.  Smith led the way with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field.  Birtell, Byrd and Haywood contributed 11 points apiece.  Haywood and Byrd combined for eight assists on the night.  Following the game, both Smith and Birtell were named to the CIT All-Tournament Team.  Smith was named Tournament MVP. 

CU-Wisconsin was 25-of-60 (41.7 percent) overall and 10-of-25 (40 percent) from deep in the loss.  Free throw shooting cost the Falcons the game, as CU-Wisconsin was just 7-of-17 from the line for 41.2 percent.  Doedens scored a game-high 21 points, while Schneider hit five 3-pointers and added 19 for the Falcons. 

GPAC play resumes this week.  The Bulldogs travel to Nebraska Wesleyan before returning home to host Northwestern College on February 4.