Final 2:25 Leaves Cobbers Out Of The Playoffs

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (2/19/14)—Concordia battled back from a nine-point second-half deficit to take a three-point lead with just over 3-minutes left in the game but was then outscored 13-7 down the stretch and lost 71-68.

Jordan Bolger led the Cobber second-half comeback as he knocked down 18 of his game-high 22 points in the loss. Unfortunately for Concordia, the defeat takes them out of the conference playoff picture. CC is now 11-13 overall and 7-12 in the MIAC. The Johnnies win for the third straight game and fifth time in the last six games. SJU is now 14-10 in all games and 12-7 in league play.

The first half of play was close throughout with neither team taking more than a five-point lead until the final 4-seconds of play. The game was tied on three separate occasions and then at 24-24 with 2:22 left in the opening period until St. John's scored the final seven points of the half and took a 31-24 lead into the break.

The Johnnies extended the lead to nine points in the first minute of play in the second half and then the Cobbers slowly started to whittle away at the deficit. Concordia eventually pulled even midway through the period on a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Tom Fraase.

The game would then be tied three more times and the teams would trade the lead six times before St. John's would go on their decisive late-game run.

Concordia was cold from outside the arc. The Cobbers shot 29.4% (5-for-17) from 3-point range for the game.

The other big statistical edge in the game came from around the basket. St. John's outscored the Cobbers 40-24 in points in the paint. In the first game between the two teams, a 74-64 win for Concordia, CC held a 42-36 edge in points in the paint.

Besides Bolger's 22 points, Brandon Giese had 15 points to go along with a game-high six rebounds and a team-high seven rebounds. Brady Syverson came off the bench to score 10 points and match Giese's seven rebounds.

Concordia will close out the 2013-14 season when they play at Hamline on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m.