Second-Half Surge

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/27/15) --- Jordan Bolger continued his ascent up the all-time Concordia scoring list as his season-high 26-point effort helped lift the Cobbers to a narrow 62-61 comeback win over St. Olaf. 

Bolger scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half and scored 14 of the team's final 18 points to will the Cobbers past the Oles in the second half. He also added 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. 

The Cobbers outshot St. Olaf 51.9% (27-of-52) to 46.2% (24-of-52) and outrebounded the Oles 33-26. 

CC trailed by 11 at halftime as the Oles went on a 17-3 run to end the first half, but the Cobbers outscored St. Olaf 40-28 in the second half. 

Concordia improves to 11-7 overall and 8-5 in conference play while the Oles fall to 10-8 and 8-5 in MIAC contests.  Both teams are in a tie for fifth place in the conference standings. 

The Cobbers scored on five of their first seven possessions but the Oles answered each time and led 11-10 with 12:49 to play in the first half. 

A baseline bank shot from Matt Ellingson tied the game at 19-19 minutes later, but the Oles went on a 14-3 run over the last 7:17 to end the half. 

Concordia went scoreless from 7:49 to the four-minute mark when Tom Fraase connected from beyond the arc. CC could not manage to score the rest of the half and trailed 33-22 at recess. 

CC shot 41.7% (10-for-24) in the first half while the Oles went 48.1% (13-for-27) from the field and had seven points off of five Cobber turnovers. 

Concordia head coach Rich Glas' halftime adjustments paid off because Concordia scored on its first six possessions of the second period. Included in that stretch was two Bolger buckets and a triple from Austin Nelson to make it 37-35 with 16:19 to play. 

The Cobbers tied the game minutes later at 44-44 with a Fraase 3-pointer but the Oles made a run of their own. 

St. Olaf extended their lead to 52-46 after a pull-up jumper from former MSU-Moorhead player Ben Figini. 

Bolger had the answer. The senior went on a 6-0 run all by himself and scored eight of theCobbers' next ten points to put Concordia ahead 60-58 with 1:07 remaining.

Concordia vs. St. Olaf Highlights

It was the first time Concordia had led since the 7:49 mark of the first half. 

Fraase then hit a tough floater that got a friendly roll to make it 62-58 with 15 seconds left. St. Olaf hit a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game but the Oles' last second desperation heave was off the mark. 

The Cobbers shot 60.7% (17-for-28) from the floor and outrebounded the Oles 20-10 in the second half. 

Fraase added 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting with two rebounds. Syverson chipped in 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting along with six rebounds. 

Figini paced the Oles with 21 points while Justin Pahl and Riley Aeikens both tallied 11 points for St. Olaf. 

JUST KEEP CLIMBING
Jordan Bolger's 26 points vs the Oles gives him 1,121 career points, good for sixth all-time at Concordia. He leapfrogged three Cobber greats, passing Jim Bjorklund (1,098), Dave Reiten (1,101) and John Fraase (1,114). Next up on the list is Darrin Olmscheid who poured in 1,163 points in his Cobber career. 

OLÈ, OLÈ, OLÈ/A-MART FLASHBACK
Concordia's win over St. Olaf was the first time CC has beaten the Oles at home since 2012-13. In the 2012-13 game, a 78-73 Cobber win, sixth-man Andrew Martinson pumped in 31 points off the bench off on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-7 from distance and a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Concordia won 2-of-3 in their pivotal home stand, but the Cobbers will now hit the road for a pair starting with Augsburg on Saturday, January 30 at 1 p.m. The Auggies are coming off a 75-64 home win against St. Mary's and sit at 11-7 overall and 6-7 in conference play. The Cobbers beat Auggie 73-70 at home back on December 12.