Foul Line Lament

ST. PETER, Minn. (01/03/24)---Some call them free throws, while others like the term foul shots. For Concordia against Gustavus, the stat category turned out to be more foul than free.

The Cobbers came out on the wrong ends of a 37-14 margin in free throws attempted and a 27-9 advantage in foul shots made and lost to the Gusties 88-82 in the first game of the 2024 calendar year.    

Concordia made six more field goals, both teams made nine 3-point field goals, and the turnover margin was only one but the free throw comparison proved to be the difference in the 6-point game.

The Cobbers and Gusties are both 7-4 in all games, while CC falls to 3-3 in conference play, and GAC ups its conference mark to 6-0.

Neither team had more than a 4-point lead for the first 16:30 of the contest, which featured four tie scores and eight lead changes. Gustavus earned its largest lead of the opening half when they connected on a 3-pointer with 2:22 to play, but then a Matt Johnson layup at the 1:33 mark brought the score to 38-34 at the halftime break.

Concordia didn't attempt a foul shot in the first 20 minutes of play, while Gustavus went to the free throw line 19 times and connected on 14.

Another critical factor in the game came at the start of the second period of play, where the Gusties outscored CC 12-3 in the first 3:30 of action to take a 13-point lead at 50-37. That turned out to be the biggest lead of the game for Gustavus, but it forced Concordia to give chase for the rest of the half.

The Cobbers got as close as six points midway through the final half, but a 4-0 GAC run brought the lead back to double digits.

CC made one final push in the last minute when Rowan Nelson canned a 3-pointer, and Matt Johnson drained a 3-ball and was fouled. Johnson's rare 4-point play got Concordia within five points at 87-82, and it was only fitting that Gustavus would finish off the game at the foul line by connecting on a single attempt to bring the final to 88-82.

Johnson and senior point guard Jackson Jangula both had a team-high 18 points. For Jangula, it was a season-high point total. He was 4-for-7 from distance and also added three rebounds.

Nelson and Jackson Loge gave the Cobbers four players with at least 10 points. Nelson had 13 points and four steals, while Loge went 5-for-7 from the floor and added 10 points.  

Jacob Cook came away with a team-high eight boards and has had at least seven rebounds in seven of the past eight games. He is tied for fourth in the MIAC in rebounds with a 7.6 rpg average.
  
UP NEXT: The Cobbers will return home to host Carleton on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 3 p.m. in the final game of the college's holiday break period.