Second Half Runs Come Up Short vs. Bethel

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/01/12)--Concordia made run after run at Bethel in the second half but was unable to catch the Royals and lost 77-65 in Moorhead on Wednesday. The Cobbers cut the Bethel lead to five points with 3:20 to play but then the Royals went on a 10-2 run to seal the victory.

The Cobbers were unable to come up with consistent stops on defense in the final half of the second period and lost for the third straight game. The other determining factor came from behind the arc where Bethel shot 45.0% (9-for-20) as compared to 29.4% (5-for-17) for Concordia.  

Concordia sees their playoff hopes dwindle as they move to 5-10 in conference play and 7-13 in all games. The Royals win for the fifth time in the last six games and move to 7-7 in league games and 11-8 overall. BU is currently in seventh place in the conference, just .5 games out of the final playoff spot.

The Cobbers were in catch-up mode for the entire game. CC got behind 7-0 in the first five minutes of play and trailed by as many as 10 before they went on a 14-3 run to take one, of their only two, leads in the game at 19-18 with 4:42 to play in the opening half. The Royals hit a 3-pointer in the final :35 of the first half to grab a 27-25 lead at the break.

Once again Bethel raced out to a big lead early in the half. The Royals outscored CC 22-9 in the first 7:30 of the second period and took a 15-point lead at 49-34. The Cobbers tried to make several runs to chip into the BU lead in the final minutes of play, but each time they did, Bethel would come up with key points to keep Concordia from getting within five points.

Bethel center Taylor Hall was the Cobber streak stopped for most of the second half. He scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the final 20 minutes of play. He hit a pair of momentum-busting 3-pointers during the second period and was 5-for-7 from the floor in the decisive half.

Concordia had four players finish in double figures in scoring. Junior guard Andrew Martinson came off the bench to knock down a trio of long-range shots and had a team-high 15 points. Brandon Fisher was 2-for-4 from 3-point range and added 14 points. He has now scored in double figures in five straight games. Jason Huus also extended his streak of games with at least 10 points. He finished with 10 points and six rebounds.         

Besides the 19 points from Hall, Bethel also had four players in double figures. Daniel Baah was 7-for-10 from the field and added 18 points.

Concordia will look to put a end to their losing skid when they play at Carleton on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m.