Another Close Call At The Wire

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (1/11/23)---For the second straight game, Concordia battled all the way to the wire, only to be edged out by a score line of 70-63 on the road at one of the conference leaders.

Last Wednesday, the Cobbers fell by seven at Carleton who scored the final six points in regulation to capture the 70-63 win. On Wednesday at St. John's, Concordia tied the Johnnies in the final seconds of regulation – but then SJU sank six straight free throws in the final 35-seconds of OT to prevail by the 70-63 margin.

Concordia (5-8, 3-5) trailed for the majority of the game, but never let St. John's pull away by more than nine points. The Cobbers stayed close until making their move in the final 95-seconds of the second half. CC trailed by three at 57-54, but then a pair of made free throws and some tough defense had CC within two points with 13-seconds to play. Freshman Peyton Belka was able to find Rowan Nelson near the basket, and Nelson made the up-and-under layup to tie the game with 5-seconds left on the clock.

St. John's (9-4, 6-2) was never able to get a good look at the basket because of the Cobbers' defense, and the game headed to overtime.

Nelson would connect on another layup with 3:52 left in the OT period, but that would be the final field goal of the game for CC as they went 1-for-7 in the 5-minutes of extra time. The Cobbers still had a chance late, and only trailed by two, but then the six consecutive made foul shots gave the Johnnies the thrilling conference win.

The Cobbers finished the game by shooting 30.9% (17-for-55) from the floor and 30.0% (6-for-20) from 3-point range. The Jonnies shot 39.7% (23-for-58) from the field and 23.8% (5-for-21) from outside the arc.

St. John's held a 42-35 advantage in rebounds and a 36-18 margin in points in the paint.

Concordia continues its torrid shooting at the free throw line. CC went 23-for-27 (85.2%) from the foul line. They are now shooting 79.1% from the free throw line which is tops in the MIAC and fourth in Division III.

Matthew Johnson put up a team-high 21 points in the game, and was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line. Nelson had 15 points and added six rebounds. The tandem was the only CC players with more than eight points in the game.

UP NEXT: Concordia will play the third game of the 4-game road trip to start 2023 when they travel to St. Paul to take on Hamline on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 1 p.m.