Second Season Starts In St. Paul

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/19/24)—Concordia will face Hamline in the quarterfinals of the MIAC men's basketball playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. inside historic Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn. The Cobbers will be making their first earned MIAC playoff appearance since 2016 and 13th in program history.

Below you will find all the information you need to get ready for the "second season".

TICKET INFORMATION: Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $2 for any students (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC passes will be honored. No other passes will be accepted.

WHAT: MIAC Men's Basketball Quarterfinals

WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Hutton Arena – St. Paul, Minn.

TEAMS: No.5 Seed Concordia (16-9/12-8 MIAC) at No.4 seed Hamline (15-10/13-7 MIAC)

LIVE LINKS:  Live Video | Live Stats

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Concordia secured the No.5 seed in the conference playoffs by going 12-8 in conference play. The Cobbers earned their first trip to the league playoffs since 2016 by winning four of their final five league games and six of their final eight. They clinched their playoff berth by posting a 97-59 victory against St. Olaf last Wednesday.   

Hamline finished off their regular season on a different trend than the Cobbers. The Pipers lost three of their final five games and four of their last seven. They earned their No.4 seed by going 13-7 in the conference and going on a 7-game win streak that started in the first game of the 2024 calendar year.  

RECORDS VS. OTHER PLAYOFF TEAMS: Concordia went 4-6 against the other five MIAC playoff teams. The Cobbers split their series with #1 St. John's, #2 Carleton, #4 Hamline and #6 Bethel and were swept by #3 Gustavus. The Pipers went 5-5 in the regular season against conference playoff squads. Hamline swept Bethel, split with SJU, Gustavus and the Cobbers and was swept by Carleton.  

HOME AND AWAY: The Cobbers were the "Road Warriors" in 2024. They went 10-4 in away games this year. The 10 road wins are the second most among league teams. Concordia was 7-3 on the road against MIAC teams and beat the Pipers in St. Paul on Jan. 27. Hamline was 9-3 at home this year. That includes a 7-3 mark against conference opponents.

PLAYOFF PEDIGREE: Concordia is making its 13th overall MIAC playoff appearance. CC is 3-11 all-time in the MIAC playoffs. The Cobbers have dropped seven straight conference tournament games with their last postseason victory coming in 2004 when they beat St. Thomas in the quarterfinals. Concordia has won the conference tournament on one occasion. The Cobbers raised the playoff trophy in 1996. Concordia is 1-7 on the road in the MIAC postseason and 1-5 in quarterfinal games since the league went to a 6-team playoff format in 2002.

Hamline is making its 10th trip to the conference postseason. This will be the Pipers' third straight MIAC playoff appearance and second earned playoff spot (in 2022, all 11 teams made the playoffs). Hamline is 5-9 all-time in the playoffs. HU has never won the postseason championship. They have advanced to the title on one occasion. That came in the initial MIAC tournament in 1985. The Pipers are 3-0 in playoff games at home. One of the three home wins came against the Cobbers in 2011. They also claimed home wins in the "all-in" playoffs of 2022 and the first tourney in 1985. Hamline is 2-4 in quarterfinal games.      

PLAYOFF HEAD-TO-HEAD: This year's quarterfinal game will be only the second time that the two teams have squared off against one another in the playoffs. The only postseason match-up came in 2011 when Hamline posted an 86-75 victory in St. Paul. The Cobbers were the No.6 seed in that tournament and never led against the No.3 seed Pipers. Both teams had four players score in double-digits. CC was led by Ebo Nana-Kwesan who went 7-for-16 from the floor and had 21 points. HU was led by Tyler Pannell. Pannell was 5-for-7 from distance and finished with 19 points.

| 2011 MIAC Quarterfinal Box Score |

REGULAR SEASON MATCH-UP: The teams split their regular-season series. The good news for the Cobbers is that the road team won both games. The first game came on Dec. 9 and Hamline was able to pull away in the final 2 minutes of play to post a 66-56 win. The score was tied at 48-48 with 5:40 left in the game and CC only trailed by one possession entering the final 2 minutes. Rowan Nelson led Concordia in scoring with 19 points. The Pipers were led by Austin Nelson who went 7-for-9 from the floor and posted his highest point total of the season (24 pts.).

| Game 1 Box Score: Concordia 56, Hamline 66 |

The rematch in St. Paul was close midway through the second with the Cobbers trailing by five points. CC went on an 11-1 run half to seize control of the game and walked away with a 71-68 win. The difference in the game was the outside shooting of Concordia. CC was 12-for-24 from outside the arc. Nelson led CC once again as he went for 20 points. Holt was the Pipers' leader for the second straight time vs. CC. He scored 15 points and was 3-for-4 from distance.

| Game 2 Box Score: Concordia 71, Hamline 68 |

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: How each team ranks in the MIAC for conference games only.

STAT STARS: Concordia's offense is led by the duo of Matt Johnson and Rowan Nelson. Both players finished in the Top 15 in scoring in MIAC games. Johnson averaged 15.2 points per game in CC's 20 league games. He was 13th in the MIAC. Nelson was 14th with a 14.6 ppg average. Johnson was also eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (38.3%) and Nelson was ninth in field goal percentage (54,8%). On the glass, Jacob Cook was fourth in the conference in rebounds with an 8.2 rpg average. Jackson Loge was tied for 10th with a 5.8 average. 

Austin Holt is the point person for the Pipers' offense. He led the team in scoring and rebounding. Holt was 11th in the MIAC in points per game with a 15.4 mark. He was second in the league in rebounding with a 9.4 rpg average. Holt shot 55.7% from the floor in his 19 MIAC games which was good for sixth in the conference. 

CONCORDIA PLAYOFF PUMP-UP PREVIEW