Jangula Calls Game For A Much-Needed Win

WINONA, Minn. (02/12/22)---Jackson Jangula's 3-point basket in the final seconds gave Concordia a 65-64 win over St. Mary's in Winona.

The time that each team had the lead proved to be prophetic at the final buzzer. The tightly fought contest featured 10 tie scores and was tied for a total of 7:01 in the game. The Cardinals led for 16:29 of the game, while the Cobbers held the lead for 16:30. That 1-second difference came when Jangula's ice-cold, clutch shot from distance went through the net.

The win puts a stop to the Cobbers' 7-game losing skid. CC is now 5-14 in all games and 4-12 in the MIAC. St. Mary's is now 8-14 overall and 6-12 in conference play.  

Concordia held the biggest lead of the game which came midway through the first half when Dylan Inniger connected on a shot from distance to give CC a 6-point advantage at 18-12.

St. Mary's racked up its biggest lead of the game at 14:52 of the second half when they also made a 3-pointer to push their edge to 46-41.

The Cobbers eventually tied the game for the seventh time at 51-51 with 5:51 to play. Concordia then grabbed a 4-point lead at 60-56 with 2:48 remaining. From their SMU went on an 8-2 run to claim a 2-point lead at 64-62 with 26-seconds left on the clock.     

Inniger found himself with the ball after the inbounds play but his running, left-handed floater from the paint hit off the front rim. The ball was batted back to Talon Hoffer who fed Jangula just to the right of the top of the key. Jangula put a ball fake on the on-rushing defender, took a dribble to his left to clear himself and they bottomed out the game winner.

Concordia held the advantage in every shooting category. CC shot 47.1% (24-for-51) from the floor, 50.0% (9-for-18) from outside the arc and 66.7% (8-for-12) from the free throw line.

The nine made 3-pointers are the most this season in a game for the Cobbers. The 50.0% success rate from distance ties their single-game best shooting mark from 3-point range. 

Jangula led the CC long-range aerial attack. He went 3-for-4 from outside the arc and had nine points in the game.

The biggest discrepancy in the game came at the foul line where St. Mary's only attempted five free throws all game and went 3-for-5.

Inniger went 5-for-6 from the foul line and finished with a team-high 18 points. Rowan Nelson recorded his 17th double-digit scoring game of the season. He was 5-for-11 from the floor and had 13 points. Sophomore Charlie Rasmussen grabbed a team-high six boards to go along with eight points.

UP NEXT: Concordia will stay on the road and spend Sunday in the Twin Cities. The Cobbers will then head to Duluth to take on St. Scholastica on Monday, Feb. 14 at 7:45 p.m.