FORT WAYNE – The avalanche had a number this snow-flying night at Snider, and the number was nine.
Nine three-pointers for Concordia equaled room to roam in the paint for 6-foot-6 Brian Gremaux. That equaled a storm coming down hard on the heads of the host Panthers, who went hungry for more than six minutes in the second quarter and surrendered 13 straight points in the third, leading to a resounding 67-48 win for Concordia (10-3, 4-1 in the SAC).
It didn’t begin or end with all those threes, Cadets’ coach Josh Eggold said, but they certainly didn’t hurt.
“The three-point shot really does make a huge difference,” he said.
That would include the Cadets’ inside game, which outmanned the smaller Panthers (3-9, 1-4) anyway, but got an additional boost by the absence of 6-5 forward Josh Spitnale (knee injury) from the Snider lineup.
“That was a large void (for Snider) to fill,” Eggold said.
And Gremaux took advantage, scoring a game-high 16 points and getting help from Thomas Starks (11) and Ryan Gross (11). Starks stuck three threes and Gross two to get their total; Justin Harris added two more off the bench.
Marq Rogers also had two – both in the third quarter, when he scored all seven of his points and helped ignite the 13-0 run that turned a 39-29 game into a 52-29 rout.
That stretch of futility was matched for the Panthers in the second quarter, when they went 6:14 without a field goal after Trey’von Covington’s three 55 seconds into the period. It enabled Concordia to reach halftime with a 29-18 lead, despite hitting just 10 of 28 shots in the first half.
All that changed in the third, when the Cadets not only turned up the heat on the offense, but also fed off seven Snider turnovers as well. The Cadets squeezed 18 turnovers out of the Panthers overall.
Sticking four threes in the third just made everything go from bad to worse for Snider.
“If we’re hitting it, the three’s great,” said Eggold, who figured Rogers’ two triples were perhaps the most significant. “When Marq’s hitting his threes, that makes Gremaux that much better, it makes Thomas that much better, it makes Gross that much better.
“Right now I feel good about our shot selection. That was a point of emphasis tonight.”
