A Winning Welcome To 1,000 Points

A Winning Welcome To 1,000 Points

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/9/16) --- A hot-shooting Concordia team had all five starters reach double figures as they halted the St. John's six-game win streak with a convincing 83-65 win on Saturday afternoon.

While it was a team effort that produced the win, it was an individual that stole the headlines.

Jordan Bolger broke the 1,000-point barrier early in the second half that places him in an elite group of Cobber athletes. 

The Cobbers shot 56.9% (33-of-58) from the field and torched the nets from 23 feet, 9 inches extended. Concordia went 13-of-25 (52%) from beyond the arc which included 8-for-14 in the second half. 

With the win, Concordia gets back to .500 at 6-6 overall and 2-4 in MIAC play while the Johnnies lose for just the second time this season. SJU is now 10-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play. 

The Cobbers fittingly got off to a quick start thanks to Bolger. The forward finished through contact for the basket and a foul and knocked down the free throw to make it 3-0 early. 

St. John's tied the game 5-5 with 18:47 on the clock in the first half but that would be as close as the Johnnies would get to leading for the rest of the way. 

Moments later Concordia gave the crowd in Memorial Auditorium a sneak-peek into the second half when Austin Nelson, Dylan Alderman and Tom Fraase connected on 3-pointers which made it 18-7 with 14:45 to play in the opening half. 

Three minutes later Nelson dialed up another deep ball that extended the Concordia lead to 26-15. St. John's sophomore Patrick Strom scored on consecutive possessions and Alex Schmitt hit a pair of jumpers to bring the Johnnies within eight points before the Nelson triple. 

Two possessions later Guilherme Saad knocked down a trifecta from the top of the key to extend the Cobber lead to 14 with just over 10 minutes to play in the half. 

Concordia suffocated the Johnnies on defense. St. John's finished with 65 points which is the second lowest point total of the season and just the second time they had been kept in the 60's. The only other time this season St. John's has been limited to under 70 points was in a 70-64 loss at Carleton on December 2.

Along with hitting six 3-pointers, Nelson was a rock on defense. He limited the Johnnies' leading scorer Schmitt (19 ppg, 2.5 rpg) to eight points on 2-of-9 shooting. 

The momentum continued in the Cobbers' favor. Isaac Anderson hammered home a dunk following a Bolger steal that pushed the Cobber lead to 36-19. 

St. John's Mitchell Kuck banked in a 3-ball from 35 feet as time expired in the first half to cut the deficit to 43-30, but it was all Cobbers in the second half. 

The Johnnies cut the Cobber lead to just nine points following a Strom jumper with 16:24 to play and then the Concordia jump shooters caught fire. 

Alderman drilled a triple which was followed by Nelson who came down on the next possession and connected. Two possessions later Fraase buried a deep ball and then Nelson brought the Cobber crowd to their feet by hitting 3-pointers on consecutive possessions that gave Concordia a 67-48 lead. 

Fraase accomplished the same feat 45-seconds later. He knocked down long balls from the far left wing on back-to-back possessions - the second one while falling down. 

The trio of Nelson, Fraase and Alderman combined for eight trifectas in the half, with Nelson going 4-for-6, Fraase going a perfect 3-for-3 and Alderman draining his only attempt.

In the midst of the 3-point parade, Bolger accomplished history. The Apple Valley product caught and drove left at the 16:45 mark of the second half and finished in the lane scoring points 1,000 and 1,001 to join John Fraase as the only players in program history to record 1,000 career points and haul down 500 rebounds in a career.  

In very Bolger-esque fashion, the game was not stopped but an announcement was made during a timeout break. He has been known to go about his business in a quiet manner.

Brady Syverson hit a baseline jumper with six minutes to play pushing the Cobber lead to 81-51. Leading by 30 points, CC's biggest of the day, head coach Rich Glas removed his starters and the Cobbers went on to win 83-65. 

QUOTABLE
Jordan Bolger was more pleased with the team win following Saturday's contest than the 1,000 point milestone itself. He commented, "This win was huge for us. We have to protect our home court, that's the #1 thing in the MIAC. Obviously it means a lot (to reach 1,000 career points) and my teammates and coaches are really supportive but the main focus is to just go win at Hamline and keep this season going."

COBBER 1,000 POINT SCORING LIST
1. Bob Laney - 1,847  (1964-68) 
2. Dick Peterson - 1,469 (1966-70) 
3. Bob Peterson - 1,373 (1966-70)
4. Luke Linz - 1,361 (2004-008)
5. Darrin Olmscheid - 1,163 (2007-11) 
6. John Fraase - 1,114 (2007-11)
7. Dave Reiten - 1,101 (1970-73) 
8. Jim Bjorklund - 1,098 (1971-74) 
9. Soren Nelson - 1,071 (2002-05)   
10. Elwood Bohn - 1,059 (1945-49) 
11. Keith Eckhoff - 1,019 (2002-06)
12. Mark Askerooth - 1,017 (1973-76) 
13. Daimen Crump - 1,005 (1996-97)
14. Jordan Bolger - 1,001 (2012-16)   

TWEETABLE


IT'S RAINING ME…3-POINTERS
The 13 triples made by the Cobbers is the most since the 2012-13 season when they drilled 13 deep balls at Macalester on February 2, 2013. Nelson connected on a career high six 3-pointers on 10 attempts.

LOCKED IN (DOWN) ON "D"
The 65 points is not only the second lowest point total for the Johnnies this season, but the lowest total the Cobbers have allowed this season. They surrendered 65 points one other time this season against Minn.-Morris.

TEAM WIN
All five starters reached double figures for the first time this season. Anderson scored nine points in just 11 minutes played and the bench was not outscored for the first time this season. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Concordia has little time to celebrate the victory as the three-game home stand rolls on.  Hamline comes to town on Monday night at 7 p.m. The Pipers are coming off an 85-70 loss versus Gustavus and stand at 3-8 overall and 1-5 in MIAC contests.