Playoff Road Reaches A Dead End

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/16/23)---Concordia's road to the MIAC playoffs reached a dead end in the second half against regular-season champion Carleton. The Cobbers were outscored 47-24 in the final 20 minutes of play to fall out of contention for one of the six spots in the conference tournament.

It was a tale of two different outside shooting halves for the Cobbers. Concordia went 7-for-15 (46.7%) from outside the arc in the opening period, and then made only one of their eight (12.5%) shots from distance in the final half.

Carleton, the league's top 3-point shooting team, made six 3-pointers in the first half, seven more in the final frame and finished by shooting 50.0% (13-for-26) from outside the arc in the game.     

Concordia (10-14, 8-11 MIAC) got off to a perfect start in their must-win game. The Cobbers trailed for only 41-seconds in the first 15-minutes of play, and took a 6-point lead at 40-34 into the break. CC was able to get scoring from the outside as well as under the basket, as they held a 7-0 advantage in second-chance points and were able to contain the Knights' height advantage.

The Cobbers came out in the second half and got baskets by Rowan Nelson and Matthew Johnson to push the lead to double digits.

Carleton (21-3, 16-3 MIAC) started to find the range after that point, and went on a 15-4 run to take a 1-point leas at 49-48 with 13:01 to play. Concordia was never able to regain the lead the rest of the way out, and the Knights put the game away with a 12-0 stretch starting at the 8:53 mark.

Concordia shot 44.1% (26-for-59) from the field and 34.8% (8-for-23) from outside the arc. CC attempted a season-low five free throws and made four.

The Knights shot 55.0% (33-for-60) from the field and were 2-for-8 from the foul line.

Johnson scored 17 points in the first half and finished with a team-high 23. He was 5-for-8 from distance and also added five rebounds and two steals. Johnson has now scored at least 20 points in four straight games, five of the past seven and upped his team-best scoring average to 18.3 ppg. 

Jacob Cook and Dylan Inniger combined for 27 points. Cook was 6-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-2 from 3-point range and finished with 17 points to go with a team-high seven boards. Inniger was 4-for-7 from the floor, 1-for-1 from outside the arc and had 10 points.            

UP NEXT: Concordia will host Hamline in the annual Senior Celebration game on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m.