Rude Awakening

Rude Awakening

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/22/14)—Junior point guard Ryan Rude scored a career-high 18 points, 15 of which came in the second half, and helped Concordia beat Macalester 76-65. The victory avenges an early loss at Macalester on the opening night of the MIAC season.

Rude was 7-for-10 from the floor and 3-for-4 from 3-point range in pushing the Cobbers back to the .500 mark for the season. Concordia is now 8-8 in all games and 4-7 in league play. CC is in a tie for eighth place in the conference standings, two games out of the No.5 spot. Macalester loses for the 11th straight game and drops to 2-14 in all games and 1-10 in the MIAC.

Rude, who is usually known for his defense and play-making skills, was on top of his offensive game in the second half. He was 6-for-7 from the floor and 2-for-2 from outside the arc in the final 20 minutes of play. His biggest basket came in the final 3-minutes of play after the Scots had cut the Cobber lead to one point at 64-63. Rude got the ball on the wing and knocked down one of his three 3-point field goals to put CC up 67-63 with 2:28 to play. The long-range shot took the wind out of Macalester's comeback sails and Concordia would never allow Macalester to come within seven points for the final two minutes of the contest.

Concordia's perimeter game was the catalyst to the victory. The guard trio of Rude, Tom Fraase and Brandon Giese combined to score 52 of the team's 76 points (68.4%) and shot 19-for-31 (61.3%) from the floor and 10-for-19 (52.6%) from 3-point range. Fraase also had a career high in points. He went 4-for-6 from outside the arc and finished with 17 points. Giese matched Fraase's 17 points and alos had four rebounds and three assists.

Jordan Bolger grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and also added six points and four steals. Aaron Zimmer came off the bench to score a key nine points.

The Cobbers finished the game by shooting 45.5% (25-for-55) from the floor and 47.6% (10-for-21) from 3-point range. It marks the second straight game that CC has shot better from outside the arc than from the floor. Concordia has now shot better than 40.0% from the floor in 14 of the 16 games this season.

Concordia will stay at home as they continue with their three-game home stand. CC will host Gustavus on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 3 p.m.