Drive Time

STORY LINE: Concordia built a 14-point halftime lead, converted on key possessions in the second half, made 80.0% of their free throws and beat St. Mary's 67-60. The Cobbers never trailed after the 12-minute mark of the first half as they won for the fourth time in the last six games.

RECORDS: Concordia is now 4-2 in 2019 and ups their overall record to 5-10 on the season. The Cobbers are now 4-6 in the MIAC. The four conference victories match their total from all of last season. St. Mary's falls for the sixth straight time in the New Year and is now 6-10 in all games and 2-9 in league play.

MOMENT THAT MATTERED: St. Mary's opened the second half on a 9-0 run and cut the Concordia lead to only two points at 49-47 with 7:20 left in regulation. The Cobbers took timeout and then rallied to score the next seven points and pushed the lead back to nine points at 56-47 with 4:42 to play. The Cardinals were able to cut the lead to six in the final minute but then senior John Reiten made a pair of free throw that sealed the win.

STAT STUFF: The two teams were very similar in most stat categories. The biggest difference came in field goal percentage. The Cobbers shot 45.1% (23-for-51) from the floor as compared to 36.7% (22-for-60). The Cardinals held a slim 35-34 edge in rebounds and a 38-32 margin in points in the paint. CC had one fewer turnover (9-8).              

ICE COLD FROM THE OUTSIDE: Both teams struggled to shoot from the outside the arc. Concordia shot 29.4% (5-for-17) from 3-point range. St. Mary's was even colder as they shot 11.5% (3-for-26) from long range.

JD EXCELS AT FT VS. SMU: Senior Jordan Davis entered the game shooting 55% from the free throw line and proceeded to go 6-for-6 on the night. He was 4-for-4 in the second half as the game got closer. The six made free throws is a season-high and the second most of his career. He made seven foul shots last year at home against St. Mary's.

DRIVE TIME DUO: Jordan Davis and Tommy Schyma led the Cobbers in scoring. Both players were able to get to the basket off the dribble and were a combined 12-for-23 (52.1%) from the floor. Davis finished with a team-high 18 points and all 18 were from inside the arc. He also pulled down eight rebounds. Schyma put up 17 points and collected a game-high nine boards. Davis has now scored at least 10 points in seven of the team's 10 conference games and leads the team in scoring with a 12.6 ppg average. Schyma has posted double-digit scoring totals in six of the 10 MIAC contests.

UP NEXT: Concordia hits the road for the first time in four games when they play at Gustavus on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. The Gusties are 6-9 in all games and 3-7 in the MIAC and are coming off an 81-75 win at home against Macalester on Wednesday.