Back-And-Forth Battle At The Top Of The MIAC

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/6/23)---It was only fitting that a battle between teams unbeaten in conference play was decided in the final minutes of the second half.

Concordia and St. John's went back-and-forth for the first 36 minutes of play in a game that featured 10 lead changes and five tie scores. In the end, it was a 10-2 run by the Johnnies in the final 2-minute stretch of play that sent the Cobbers to a 77-70 defeat.
 
The loss is the first of the season for Concordia. CC is now 7-1 in all games and 3-1 in the MIAC. The Johnnies are 6-2 overall and 5-0 in conference play.  

The Cobbers led for most of the first 7 minutes of the game and posted their biggest lead of the contest when Rowan Nelson knocked down a 3-pointer to make the score 16-11 with 14:38 left in the opening half. CC would duplicate its 5-point advantage on a Jackson Loge layup with 7:15 to play in the period, but SJU slowly chipped into the lead and grabbed a 5-point edge of their own in the final minute of play.

A Jackson Jangula jumper brought the score to 33-30, and then Matt Johnson came through with a left-handed, 3-point buzzer beater to send the teams into the locker room deadlocked at 33-33.

Loge opened the scoring in the second half to give Concordia a 2-point lead. From there, St. John's went on a 10-2 run to grab a 6-point advantage and make the Cobbers chase the game for most of the second half.

Concordia trailed 65-59 with 5:14 left in regulation, and then four straight free throw makes by Jacob Cook and Nelson brought CC within two at 65-63. A defensive stop and a Cook layup brought the crowd to its feet and tied the game at 65-65 with 3:33 left in the half.

The shooting numbers were similar for both teams. Concordia shot 49.0% (25-for-51) from the floor, 50.0% (7-for-14) from outside the arc and 81.3% (13-for-16) at the foul line.

One of the biggest differences in the game came from distance, where the Johnnies drained five more 3-pointers and had a player who entered the game 0-for-7 from outside the arc unexpectedly go 4-for-4 from 3-point range.

St. John's made 40.0% (24-for-60) of their attempts from the floor and went 12-for-29 (41.4% from distance. SJU also had their shooting touch from the foul line, going 17-for-18 (94.4%) for the game.

Loge led the team in the first half, scoring 13 of his team-high 20 points in the first 20 minutes of play. It was his first 20-point game as a Cobber. Cook took the baton in the second half and scored all of his 17 points in the game in the final 20 minutes.

Loge was 7-for-8 from the foul line and had three assists and two blocks, while Cook went 7-for-10 from the floor and had a team-high nine rebounds.

Peyton Belka and Nelson gave the Cobbers four starters with at least 10 points. Belka went 3-for-4 from distance and had 13 points. Nelson added 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and one monster jam in the first half.

UP NEXT: Concordia will host Hamline on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. in its final conference game before the holiday break.  

CONCORDIA vs. ST. JOHN'S HIGHLIGHTS