Bees drop two in Northwestern Classic

Orange City, IA - The St. Ambrose Fighting Bees men's basketball team fell to #2 Northwestern 101-91 and Concordia College 66-62 in the Northwestern Classic on Friday and Saturday.

Midway through the first half with the Bees trailing 20-18, Alex Burkle nailed a three pointer that sparked an 18-3 run that gave St. Ambrose a 13-point lead with 7:20 remaining in the first half.

As quickly as the Bees took their largest lead of the game, they gave it away. Northwestern put together a 23-5 run over the last seven minutes of the half to take a 46-41 lead into the break. Northwestern's Curt Schilling accounted for 15 of the 23 points in the run as he went 4-4 from beyond the arc and 3-4 from the line during the seven minute span.

In the second half, the Bees were able to claw their way back a number of time but could not sustain their scoring. Just three minutes into the first half, the Bees regained the lead at 55-53 on Alex Burkle's lay-up. However, the Fighting Bees were held score for six straight minutes and Northwestern's lead grew to 15 points at 70-55.

Slowly, but surely the Bees began to pick at Northwestern's lead. Down nine with 8:34 to go, Brett Cole hit a three pointer off a Brett McGinnis assist. Josh Binder then stole the inbound pass and scored a lay-up to cut the lead to four. Alex Washington had a steal in the front court and went coast to coast for a lay-up. On the ensuing possession, the Bees tied the game at 78-78, when Adam Fahrenkrog put back his own miss with 7:35 remaining.

That would be as close as the Bees came, however, as strong shooting and timely free throws enabled Northwestern to prevail.

Northwestern's Curt Schilling led all scorers with 34 points. He connected on 10-15 shots from the field, including 6-7 shots from beyond the arc, and went 8-10 from the line.

Brett Cole and Alex Burkle led the Bees with 22 and 20 points, respectively. Both went 8-11 from the field. Laffayette Gray, Alex Washington and Josh Binder each scored 11.

On Saturday, fatigue set in as the Bees dropped to Concordia 66-62. SAU got down early and did not have enough to come back from a 13-point first half deficit.

The Bees jumped on Concordia 5-0 to start the game, but hit a scoring lull as they managed only five points during a seven minute span, which allowed Concordia to build a comfortable 23-10 lead. The Bees fought back to make it close at the half, 33-28.

The Bees struggled again in the second half and Northwestern grew its lead to 12 following two free throws by Benjamin Buhr at the 12:48 mark. Just when the Bees seemed out of it, Adam Fahrenkrog sparked a 21-9 run to put the Bees back in the game. Forcing several Concordia turnovers, the Bees were able to convert steals into lay-ups, including a Fahrenkrog dunk. Fahrenkrog tied the game at 51-51 on a lay-up, but that would be as close as they would come.

Despite only scoring one basket for the final eight minutes of the game, Concordia connected on 13-15 free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach.

Reggie Shipp and Adam Fahrenkrog led the Bees with 14 points apiece. Shipp hit 6-11 shots from the field and pulled down seven rebounds. Fahrenkrog hit 6-13 shots and also hauled in seven boards. Brett Cole chipped in 11 points and added eight rebounds.

With the losses, the Bees drop to 0-2 on the season. They will be on the road again as they head to Ashford on November 13th to open the conference season.

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