Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: February 3, 2010
Team |
1st Half |
2nd Half |
Final |
 |
31 |
32 |
63 |
 |
36 |
40 |
76 |
Gameday Menu:
Gameday Program: Gameday Program (pdf)
Opponent's Website: Augsburg Men's Basketball
MIAC Website: MIAC Men's Basketball
MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/3/10)--Bolstered by a 53.1% shooting clip and a 23-point, 10-rebound performance from John Fraase, Concordia ended their eight-game losing streak with a 76-63 win over Augsburg in Moorhead on Wednesday. The Cobbers forced 20 turnovers and outrebounded the Auggies 31-29 to earn their ninth win of the year.
Concordia never trailed in the game and was able to counter every run that the Auggies made in the second half in order to try and seize control of the game. The loss is just the first in the last three games for Augsburg and third in the last nine games. The Cobbers win for the first time since Jan. 6 and move to 9-12 and 5-11 in the MIAC. The Auggies drop to 14-6 and 9-6 in the conference and fall to fifth place in the league standings.
The Cobbers came out in the first and were determined to put their recent run of tough luck behind them as they continually worked the ball in their offensive sets to find open chances. To put the icing on the cake for Concordia, they were actually converting on their opportunities as they shot 66.7% (14-for-21) in the first half and 53.1% (26-for-49) for the game. The 73 total points marks only the second time this season that CC has scored more than 75 points in back-to-back games.
The first half started with Concordia jumping out to a 13-7 lead in the first four minutes of play. The teams would then take turns trading spurts as the Auggies would cut the lead down to one or two and then the Cobbers would build it back up to six or seven. That continued through halftime and into the second half. CC never held a lead of more than seven points until the final eight minutes of play and Augsburg was only able to get to within one for most of that time. The score was tied briefly at the start of the second half and then with 14:41 to play but each time Concordia was able to score on their next possession and push the lead back to more than one possession for the Auggies.
The Cobbers then sealed the deal in the final minutes by connecting on five of their final six free throws and 11 of their last 16 foul shots. For the game CC was 19-for-29 (65.5%) from the free throw line.
Augsburg shot 42.9% (24-for-56) from the floor but let the game slip away from behind the arc. The Auggies connected on just 18.2% (4-for-22) of their attempts from 3-point range. That is the third lowest 3-point percentage of the season and each time they have shot under 20.% from behind the arc they have come up on the losing end of the score.
Besides the slight edge in rebounding, Concordia also enjoyed a 26-18 margin in points in the paint and a 26-15 advantage in points off of turnovers. CC forced 20 Auggie turnovers and committed just 18 on their offensive end.
Fraase posted his second double-double in the last three games and ninth of the season. Fraase was joined in double figures by three other starters. Freshman Ebo Nana-Kweson was 4-for-7 from the floor and finished with 11 points. He has now scored in double figures in two consecutive games. Karl Olson and Darrin Olmscheid both had 10 points in the game. Olson was 2-for-3 from behind the arc and has now made six of his last nine long-range attempts in the past two games.
The Auggies had a pair of players with more than 10 points. David Olson had 19 points on a 6-for-10 shooting night. Jon Cassens added 12 points and Andy Grzesiak-Grimm came through with a team-high seven rebounds.
Concordia will stay at home and put their one-game winning streak on the line when they face St. John's on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m.
