Points Off Of Turnovers Give Cobbers Three Straight

ST. PAUL, Minn. (1/05/14)—Concordia's defense forced 16 turnovers and turned those miscues into 26 points in a 58-50 win over Macalester in St. Paul.

The Cobbers were able to come up with key stops throughout the game and were able to keep the Scots from getting within six points in the final 13:30 of the game. The win is the third straight for Concordia and second consecutive conference victory. CC is now 6-3 in all games and 2-2 in the MIAC.

Concordia started slowly against the Scots, falling behind by five points in the first four minutes of the opening half. CC then went on a 9-0 run to grab a 13-9 lead. The Cobbers led for almost the entire first half after that point. Macalester went on an 8-0 run in the final 6:30 of the period to take a brief 24-23 lead with 3:06 left in the first half.

Brandon Giese hit a big 3-point field goal on the very next possession to give Concordia a two-point advantage at 26-24. CC would take that lead into the halftime break and then never trailed in the final 20 minutes of play.

Concordia was outshot by Macalester in all three shooting categories. The Cobbers connected on 38.5% (20-for-52) from the floor as compared to 42.9% (18-for-42) from the Scots. CC made just 26.7% (4-for-15) from outside the arc while Macalester went 4-for-7 (57.1%) from 3-point range. Concordia went 14-for-21 (66.7%) from the free throw line and the Scots were 10-for-14 (71.4%) from the foul line.

The Cobbers had a 35-29 edge in rebounding for the game and a mere 26-22 advantage in points in the paint.

The biggest statistical advantage came from turnovers and points from those miscues. Concordia only turned the ball over nine times in the game as compared to 16 for the Scots. CC was able to convert those miscues into a 26-7 edge in points off of turnovers.

Tom Fraase and Jordan Bolger were the only two Concordia players with more than eight points in the game. Fraase was 6-for-10 from the floor and finished with a team-high points. Bolger put up 12 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds. Senior Scott Flotterud had eight points and came away with six rebounds while fellow senior Ryan Rude recorded a game-high five assists.

Concordia continues with their four game-in-seven days stretch on Wednesday, Jan. 7 when they host Bethel at 7:45 p.m.