Other Worldly First Half Clubs Cobbers

ST. PETER, Minn.  (12/07/13)—Concordia ran into an offensive juggernaut in the first half, tried to rally in the second half and wound up losing to Gustavus 78-64 in St. Peter.

The Gusties shot a ridiculous 73.9% (17-for-23) in the first 20 minutes of play. Gustavus made 14 of their first 17 shots in the game as they turned a one-point game at 8-7 into an 18-point lead at 35-17. The Gusties ended the half with a 42-27 lead and had three players that took at least three field goals and did not miss in the half. The trio of Isaac Trapp, Brian Jacobs and Brody Ziegler went a combined 11-for-11.

The loss is the second straight to start the conference season for the Cobbers. Concordia is now 3-3 in all games. Gustavus ups its record to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in MIAC play.

The Cobbers played well offensively in the first half as well, shooting 43.5% (10-for-23) from the floor and knocked down four of their 11 shots from outside the arc.

Concordia waited for Gustavus to come back to earth with their shooting and then outscored the Gusties 37-36 in the second half. Unfortunately, the other-worldly first half for Gustavus gave them enough cushion to survive the Cobbers' comeback attempt.

Concordia was able to cut the lead to single digits in the final three minutes of play but Gustavus finished off the game with a 7-2 run.

The story of the game was the play of the Gustavus big men. The Gusties outrebounded the Cobbers 34-15. The 15 rebounds is the lowest single-game total for CC since the 2006-07 season when they also had 15 at Gustavus. The size advantage for the Gusties also led to a 30-18 advantage in points in the paint. GAC also came away with 11 offensive rebounds and had 12 second-chance points.

The Cobbers had four players finish in double figures in scoring. Jordan Bolger led the team in scoring for the fourth time in the past five games. He finished with 16 points and has now scored in double figures in five straight games. Tom Fraase went 4-for-6 from outside the arc and finished with 12 points. Brett Bergeson came off the bench to score 11 points and Brandon Giese chipped in 10 points.

Brady Syverson had a game-high seven rebounds and also came away with six points.

The Cobbers shot 46.2% (24-for-52) from the floor. It is the fourth straight game they have shot above 40.0% for the game. CC was also 10-for-25 (40.0%) from outside the arc. The 25 3-point attempts is the most for the Cobbers this season.

Concordia will finish off their three-game conference road trip on Monday, Dec. 9 when they play at Bethel at 7:45 p.m.