Buzzer Beater Bounces Away
MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/28/12)—Concordia had a
game-winning jumper hit off the rim and bounce away as time expired
and lost by a single point to Augsburg on Saturday. The Cobbers and
Auggies battled through 23 lead changes and 13 tied scores before
the Auggies finally came away with the 72-71 win.
Augsburg’s Andy Grzesiak-Grimm hit a
running jumper from the middle of the lane to give the Auggies the
72-71 lead with just over six seconds to play. Cobber junior guard
Dewon McKenzie took the inbounds pass, raced the
length of the court and got off a clean 10-foot jumper that just
barely bounced away as the buzzer sounded to end the game.
The loss ends Concordia’s two-game losing streak and is only
the third loss at home this year for the Cobbers. CC is now 7-11
overall and 5-8 in the MIAC. Augsburg remains in third place in the
conference standings. They are now 12-6 in all games and 9-4 in
league play.
The game was a hotly contested, back-and-forth affair for the
entire 40 minutes. The teams exchanged the lead 15 different times
in the first half alone and neither team had more than a
seven-point advantage in either half.
The two biggest runs came in the second half when Augsburg grabbed
a four-point lead after erasing a three-point Cobber margin.
Spurred on by senior guard Johnathon Molina,
Concordia roared back to score 11 straight points and grab their
biggest lead of the day at 64-57. The Auggies then countered with
an 8-0 run of their own to collect a 67-66 lead and the teams would
then trade points until the final seconds of play.
Playing in one of their most complete games of the season,
Concordia shot 52.7% (29-for-55) from the floor and 38.5%
(5-for-13) from outside the arc. Augsburg posted similar numbers,
shooting slightly less from the floor (45.3%) and a bit more from
3-point range (45.8%). One of the big differences came at the free
throw line where the Auggies made 13 of their 20 (65.0%) shots from
the foul line while the Cobbers struggled to connect on 50.0%
(8-for-16) of their free throws.
Concordia had four players score in double figures. McKenzie was
hot from the outside in the first half and finished with a
team-high 15 points. Brandon Fisher and
Jason Huus led the CC inside game which enjoyed a
20-8 advantage in points in the paint. Both players were 6-for-8
from the floor. Fisher wound up with 14 points and Huus added 13.
Ebo Nana-Kweson had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Augsburg reserve guard Andy Seidlitz came off the bench to score a
game-high 18 points. He had four 3-pointers in the decisive second
half and finished the day 4-for-6 from outside the arc.
Grzesiak-Grimm had 12 points to go along with 12 rebounds while
David Weber added 15 points and Cory Polta grabbed 10 boards.
The Cobbers will now travel to Winona to face St. Mary’s on
Monday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.
Complete game recap, box score, picture gallery
and video highlights