Sooner Comes On Saturday In St. Paul

ST. PAUL, Minn. (1/27/24)---Sooner or later the tides had to turn for the Cobbers. Concordia opened the season with seven straight wins but put up a 3-4 record in the month of January.

The sooner came in St. Paul against a Hamline team that had won seven straight games.

Concordia used the strength of one of their best outside shooting games of the year and a +7 free throw margin to rally past the Pipers to post a 71-68 win.

The Cobbers trailed by five points in the second half before they went on an 11-1 run midway through the second half to seize control of the game and gain their first win in three games.

The win pushes Concordia into one of the six MIAC playoff spots. CC is now 7-6 in league play which is good for sole possession of fifth place in the conference standings. The Cobbers are 11-7 overall.

Hamline loses for the first time since Jan, 3 and is now 10-4 in the MIAC and 12-7 in all contests.

Concordia led for the first 12:33 of the opening half of play. During that time there were three tie scores but CC was never behind on the scoreboard. The Pipers made their first run of the game in the final 6 minutes of the half. They turned a 1-point advantage into a 38-31 margin with 2:20 left in the opening period of play by going on an 18-9 stretch.

The Pipers led 40-34 at the break and then held the advantage for the first half of the second period before Concordia flipped the script from the first half and dominated down the stretch.

A Jackson Loge 3-point field goal ignited the 11-1 run that eventually gave the Cobbers a 5-point lead at 60-55 with 5:27 to play. The teams would trade baskets and non-scoring possessions for the next 4 minutes before a pair of made free throws from Rowan Nelson gave CC its largest lead of the game at six points with 17 seconds remaining in regulation.

Concordia shot 48.9% (22-for-45) from the field and 50.0% (12-for-24) from outside the arc. The 12 made shots from distance ties a season high for CC. The Cobbers were 15-for-23 (65.2%) from the free throw line.

Hamline ended play by connecting on 43.9% (25-for-57) of their shots from the floor and 32.3% (10-for-31) of their attempts from outside the arc. HU went 8-for-16 from the foul stripe.

The Cobbers held a 32-27 edge in rebounds, while the Pipers came away with a 30-18 advantage in points in the paint.

Nelson led all players with 20 points. It's his second 20-point game of the year and first since he dropped 21 against St. Mary's on Dec. 4.             

Matt Johnson added 17 points to go with three assists. He has scored in double figures in 17 of the team's 19 games this year.
Peyton Belka didn't miss a shot all game (4-for-4 FG/2-for-2 FT) and had 10 points.

Noah Christensen posted a team-high eight boards, while Jacob Cook had the Dennis Rodman stat line with seven rebounds and zero points.

UP NEXT: Concordia will host St. Mary's in a midweek match-up on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 5:30 p.m.