Sophomore David Birkeland drives to the basket in the second half against St. John's.
Sophomore David Birkeland drives to the basket in the second half against St. John's.

Cobbers Run Into No.2-Ranked Brick Wall

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/22/20)--- Concordia hit a No.2 brick wall on Wednesday night. The Cobbers were only able to make two 3-pointers all night and lost 73-38 to second ranked St. John's.  

The Cobbers missed their first four shots in the game, fell behind 20-5 in the first 9-munutes of the game and could neve recover against the Johnnies who have now won 16 straight games and remain unbeaten in MIAC play this season.

The loss is the 12th straight for Concordia who falls to 2-14 overall and 0-11 in the MIAC. St. John's, who lost its first game of the year but has won 16 straight since, is now 16-1 in all games and 12-0 in the MIAC.

The Cobber struggled to get their outside game going in the first half which was a key factor in their ability to stay close. CC went 0-for-8 outside the arc in the first 20 minutes of play.

Concordia shot 11.1% (2-for-18) from 3-point range for the game which is the lowest percentage of the season. The two made long-range shots are also the fewest of the year.

The Cobbers shot 29.4% (15-for-51) from the floor while St. John's was able to connect on 43.6% (24-for-55) of their attempts from the field and 53.3% (8-for-15) of their shots from distance.

Besides the discrepancy from outside the arc, the Johnnies also held an advantage around the basket where they outscored Concordia 30-4 in points in the paint and had a 39-27 edge in rebounding.

Freshman guard Jackson Jangula led Concordia in scoring with 10 points. He was 4-for-8 from the floor and made one of the two 3-pointers for CC. Bryden Urie had eight points, all in the first half, and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

David Birkeland connected on the other 3-pointer for the Cobbers as he came off the bench to score five points and grab two rebounds.

INSIDE STAT INFO: The last time Concordia was held to under 40 points in a game came in the 2015 season when the Cobbers lost 64-38 at St. Thomas on Jan. 10, 2015. The Tommies were the No.5-ranked team in the country at the time.  

UP NEXT: Concordia will look to get hot from the outside when they play at Augsburg on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. The Auggies are 12-4 overall and 8-3 in the MIAC.