22-Point Head Starts Are Never A Good Idea

ST. PAUL, Minn. (12/03/12)—It's never a good idea to give up the first 22 points to the No.5-ranked team in the country but that is exactly what Concordia did on Monday at St. Thomas and wound up losing 93-64.

The Cobbers missed their first eight field goal attempts in the game and committed four turnovers in the first seven minutes of play and trailed 22-0. Concordia finally got on the board with a pair of Scott Flotterud free throws at the 13:03 mark. The good news for the Cobbers is that they played even with the Tommies for the final 13 minutes of the opening period and then trailed by only five in the final half of play.

The loss is the second straight road defeat for the Cobbers who fall to 3-4 in all games and 1-2 in the MIAC. St. Thomas remains unbeaten on the year and improves to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in league games.

Concordias final shooting numbers were not out of the ordinary as they connected on 44.4% (24-for-54) of their shots from the floor and 38.5% (5-for-13) of their attempts from outside the arc. In fact it marks the first time in three games that CC has shot over 40.0% from the floor and 30.0% from 3-point range.

The biggest advantage in the game came around the basket where St. Thomas was able to routinely get the ball inside and came away with a 44-26 edge in points in the paint. Those 44 points from "bunny" range led to the Tommies shooting 57.3% (34-for-59) from the field and having seven more free throw attempts in the game. UST shot 75.0% (18-for24) from the foul line to keep Concordia from being able  to make a run after the 22-point head start.

St. Thomas also dominated the boards as they came away with a 38-25 advantage in rebounding. It is the first time all season that the Cobbers have been held to under 34 total rebounds in a game.

Dewon McKenzie was the only Concordia player to finish in double figures in scoring. He ended the game with 16 points on a 6-for-9 shooting night. No CC player had more than four rebounds in the game.

Concordia will have a week off before their final conference game of the 2012 calendar year. The Cobbers will host Carleton on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 7:45 p.m.