Halftime Lead Erased In Final 20 Minutes

MOORHEAD, Minn. (01/29/22)---Concordia led St. John's 35-33 at the half, but then a 12-0 run in the final 8-minutes of the second period sent the Cobbers to an 80-65 loss.

Junior Jackson Jangula knocked down a jump shot to bring Concordia within a single point at 56-55 with 8:12 to play. The Johnnies then scored the next 12 points in the game and 19 of the next 21 to seize control of the game and come away with the victory.

The loss is the third straight for Concordia, and they finish out the month of January with a 3-4 record. CC is now 4-10 overall and 3-8 in the MIAC. St. John's wins for the fourth straight game and improves to 15-3 overall and 12-1 in league play.

The biggest turning point in the game was the foul trouble that plagued Cobber leading scorer Rowan Nelson. Nelson, who entered the game third in the MIAC scoring, played only 14 minutes and scored only four points. Nelson picked up two fouls in the first half and played seven minutes. He was then whistled for his third foul only 9-seconds into the second half and added a fourth at the 17:16 mark.

The four points for Nelson marked the first time in his college career that he hasn't posted a double-digit point total. The streak had reached 13 straight games.

The other big difference came around the basket where the Johnnies outrebounded Concordia 41-23 and held a 36-22 edge in points in the paint.

Concordia shot 46.0% (23-for-50) from the floor, 50.0% (7-for-14) from outside the arc and 60.0% (12-for-20) from the free throw line in the game. The 60,0% mark from the foul line is the lowest in four games and only the third time this year they haven't shut above 65.0% from the free throw stripe.

The Johnnies shot an identical 46.0% (29-for-63) from the floor. They connected on 42.1% (8-for-19) of their shots from distance and 77.8% (14-for-18) from the foul line.

The Cobbers had four starters finish with at least 10 points in the game. Jangula led the team with 17 points, while Talon Hoffer and Braeton Motschenbacher added 13 each. Mason Gravseth came off the bench to lead the team in rebounding with five.

UP NEXT: Concordia will have another midweek road game when they travel to Northfield to take on St. Olaf on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. CC has had six games during the week this year, and five of those have been on the road.