A Honey Of a Time Around The Basket

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/27/18)---A layup off an inbounds play gave Concordia its 100th point against Macalester and was the theme for the Cobbers in their 100-81 win over Macalester.

Concordia put up a season-high 52 points in the paint in the game, shot over 60-percent from both the floor and 3-point range and put an end to their five-game losing slide.

Concordia struggled at times with the high-pressure full-court defense of the Scots but for the majority of the game they were able to score off the transition and get easy shots around the basket.  The Cobbers finished the game by scoring a season-high 52 points in the paint.

The Cobber trailed for the first half of the opening period but then a 3-point basket from Jacob Pazdernik gave CC a 23-21 lead and Concordia would never trail after that point.

Concordia (5-13/3-10 MIAC) finished the first half with a 50-44 lead and all but six of the 50 points came from within six feet of the basket. The Cobbers shot 70.4% (19-for-27) from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The Cobbers would have to work harder for their 50 points in the second half as they were held to fewer points in the paint but made more outside attempts. Concordia handled the ball much better against the press in the second half as they only committed eight turnovers as compared to 17 in the first period of play. CC also made three more shots from outside the arc in the final half as they went 5-for-7 from 3-point range.

Concordia finished the game by shooting almost identical totals from the floor and 3-point range. The Cobbers connected on 63.5% (33-for-52) of their shots from the floor and 63.6% (7-for-11) of their attempts from long range.

Freshman guard Bryden Urie used his "Urie step" to get past the Scot defense and put up a career-high 21 points. He went 8-for-10 from the floor as he routinely got to the basket off the dribble. He also had career highs in rebounds and assists as he led all players in boards with eight and had an identical eight assists.

Besides the 21 points from Urie, the Cobbers had four other players in double figures in the game and two of those had career-high scoring totals. Mason Carpenter was 5-for-7 from the floor and posted a career-high 18 points while John Reiten was 5-for-6 and ended the game with a career-high 14 points.

Jordan Davis was the fifth CC player to have at least 10 points. He finished with 13 points and five boards.

STAT ADVANTAGE: In addition to their 52-36 edge in points in the paint, Concordia also held a decisive 54-17 advantage in points scored by players coming off the bench. The CC reserves were led by the double-digit totals of Carpenter, Reiten and Davis.

HONEY BEE: The 100 points scored by Concordia is a single-game season high. The previous highest point total was 88 against Bethany Lutheran in the second game of the year. The last time CC dropped 100 points in a game was in 2016 in a triple overtime win over Gustavus at home. The last time they hit the century mark in a non-overtime game was in 2005 in a 105-79 win at home over Augsburg. In that game Soren Nelson scored 33 points including his 1,000th career point as a Cobber.         
    
WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will need their shooting sights to stay locked in when they play at league-leading St. John's on Wednesday, Jan. 31. The Johnnies are 12-0 in the league this season and have won 14 straight games.