After falling behind 19-10 in the first five minutes of play, Whitman bounced back behind a pair of 9-0 scoring runs. The second of those spurts, which covered the final 1:34 of the half, gave the Missionaries a 51-48 lead at the break.
Whitman led for much of the second half, pushing its lead to as many as 12 points before a flurry of Concordia three-point baskets in the final minute narrowed the final margin.
Kofler, a 6-foot-8 post, scored a career-high 28 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked four shots. Kelly, a 6-foot-2 guard, finished with 23 points and seven boards, while 6-foot-2 point guard Greg Ricker had 22 points, eight assists, five rebounds and five steals.
“It was really great to see our seniors have such outstanding performances,” Whitman coach Skip Molitor said. “They’ve had some time to gel now, so we hoped coming into this season that things would fall into place. We’re certainly off to a good start.”
The Wildhorse tournament concludes with a pair of games Sunday night. Concordia heads to nearby College Place to play Walla Walla College on its home floor at 6 p.m. Walla Walla fell 73-56 to Eastern Oregon University in Saturday’s other first-round game.
Whitman and Eastern Oregon play for the tournament title at 8 p.m. Sunday in Sherwood Center. “Beating Concordia was a great win for us, but now we have to look ahead to a tough Eastern Oregon team tomorrow. I’d love to be able to win the tournament.”
Concordia got off to a quick start Saturday against Whitman, hitting five straight three pointers, including three by Alex Hartman. With the Missionaries down by nine, Kelly, Ricker and Kofler scored nine unanswered points to forge the first of what would be four first-half deadlocks. Freshman Brendan Ziegler’s three-pointer at the 11:34 mark put the Missionaries in front 26-25, their first lead since the opening minutes.
Concordia pulled ahead 48-42 with just over two minutes left in the half, but Whitman had answers for the Cavaliers all night. A Ricker jumper followed by Kelly’s steal and Kofler’s three-point play in the key brought Whitman to within a single point with a minute remaining.
Junior guard Ian Warner kept the rally on track, collecting a defensive rebound and sailing the ball ahead to Kelly, who electrified the home crowd with a one-handed slam dunk. Warner then snuck inside for a layup in the closing seconds of the half to give the Missionaries their 51-48 lead at intermission.
Concordia scored the first four points of the second half to regain the lead, but sophomore Chris Faidley’s jumper capped a 10-2 run that rekindled the Missionary momentum. Concordia made a final push, taking its last lead at 65-64 with 10:58 remaining. But Faidley drained a pair of free throws and Whitman was off on an 11-2 spurt that included seven points from Ricker.
With the clock becoming a factor, Whitman handled Concordia’s full-court pressure and hit big free throws down the stretch. Ricker hit two free throws with 1:35 left to inflate the Missionary lead to 12 points, 89-77. The Cavaliers kept shooting, hitting four three-points in the final 90 seconds. Michael Lay, 5-foot-10 senior guard, converted three of those triples and scored 13 of his team-high 24 points during the span.
Points from Kofler, Kelly and Ricker, however, kept Concordia at bay. Kofler hammered home a pair big dunks in the last 34 seconds to help seal the win.
Sophomore Aaron Hazel, with 10 points, gave the Missionaries a fourth player in double figures. Faidley added eight points off the bench.
Concordia mustered plenty of offense of its own, with five players scoring 10 or more points. The Cavaliers shot 56.5 percent from the floor for the game. Whitman compensated by outrebounding Concordia 39-34 and forcing the Cavaliers into 22 turnovers. The Missionaries hit 48 percent of their shots from the floor.