Men’s basketball team lose 1st game by 1

The Eagles’ offense played well in the true season opener against Bellevue University, Bellevue, but could not hold off the Bruins in the end, losing a heartbreaker 78-77.
CSC struggled to rebound in the first half, giving the Bruins seven offensive rebounds, but the Eagles cashed in on seven 3-pointers, giving them a slim two-point advantage at the break.
The Eagles were hit by serious foul trouble in the second half, with Jordan Perry, junior of Murrieta, California, and Warren Gordon, senior of Indianapolis, forced to watch from the bench for a large chunk of time. Perry picked up a foul with 18:06 remaining in the second half and didn’t check back in until the 11:30 mark. Gordon picked up a foul with just over 17 minutes left, and subbed back in with Perry.
In that time, the Bruins went on an impressive 20-2 scoring run, gaining the lead and pushing it to 13.
In the last two minutes of the game, the Eagles trailed by 10 points, 76-69, but Gordon hit two from deep before Austin Hall, junior of Aurora, Colorado, threw down a dunk, making the deficit four points.
With six seconds remaining, Gordon missed a pair of shots, but the ball was tipped out of bounds by a Bruin giving CSC one final chance. Leigh Saffin, redshirt sophomore of Warrnambool, Australia, hit a three with one second left, bringing the score to 78-77 as time expired.
Even with missing a large portion of the second half, Gordon was red hot the whole game. Finishing with 27 points, 18 of which from 3-point range, Gordon led all players. Perry finished the game with 12 points, only missing one shot the whole game, including a perfect 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.
Hall also played well sinking 7 of 11 from the field and one free-throw, totaling 15 points. Hall also led the Eagles in rebounding with six.
As a team, the Eagles shot 41.3 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from long range.
CSC will host Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota, for the home opener. Tipoff against the Wolves is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, in the Chicoine Center.