Perseverance Pays Off In St. Peter

ST. PETER, Minn. (2/08/23)---Don't look now, but Concordia is making a late push for the playoffs. The Cobbers erased a 12-point lead in the first half, a 6-point lead in the second half and persevered their way to a 61-57 win at Gustavus.

The Cobbers win for the third straight game, and are now 7-10 in the MIAC. That mark is only a game out of the final playoff spot with three games left in the regular season. CC is 9-13 in all games. The nine overall wins are the most since the 2017 season.

Concordia trailed for the final 9-minutes of the first frame, and at one time trailed by 12 points at 30-18 with 4:16 left in the period. The Cobbers would finish off the half on a 13-3 run and trail by only two points at the break.

Gustavus (9-14, 9-9 MIAC) started the second half on a 9-5 stretch that built the lead to six points at 42-36  with 16:47 left in regulation.

Concordia started its final comeback trek midway through the period when junior Matt Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer to give CC its first lead in the half at 49-47. The Cobbers would never trail after that as they went on an 8-0 run to push the margin to seven points with 5-minutes left to play.

The Gusties trimmed the lead down to a single point, but then senior David Birkeland got free inside for a layup. Rowan Nelson followed with a layup of his own to push the lead to five points at 58-53.

Gustavus made one final push in the final 20-seconds of play and got the lead to only two points with 13-secondds to play, but Johnson sealed the game with a pair of made free throws.

Concordia shot 43.6% (25-for-55) from the floor and 27.3% (6-for-22) from distance, while Gustavus shot 31.3% (21-for-67) from the field and 30.8% (8-for-26) from outside the arc.

Both teams made seven free throws in the game.

The Cobbers held a 30-26 edge in points in the paint, while Gustavus held a 40-34 edge in rebounds.

Johnson led all players with 20 points, and is now averaging 18.0 ppg this year. He has scored at least 20 points in two straight games and nine overall this year.

Nelson had 11 points to go along with 6 boards, while Birkeland and Alex Huber both finished with eight points. Freshman Jacob Cook had a team-high nine rebounds and also had eight points.

UP NEXT: Concordia will continue its push for the postseason when they host St. Scholastica on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m.