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ST. PAUL, Minn. (2/10/10)-- For the second time in the 2009-10 season Concordia had a chance to stake a claim at the top of the MIAC with a win over Macalester, and for the second time the Cobbers stumbled against the Scots and will now have to fight for playoff position.

Concordia gave up 49 points to Macalester was outrebounded 44-27 and lost 84-81 on Wednesday in St. Paul. The Cobbers allowed the Scots to corral 15 offensive rebounds and turn those into a 19-7 advantage in second chance points as they fell to 15-7 overall and 14-5 in the conference. CC drops into a tie for third place with St. Thomas and will now try to gain home court advantage and a first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs.

While the Cobbers used a quintet of players to get most of their points, Macalester needed only two players to post monster games to come up with the win. Erica Nord, Anna Matetich, Brittany Jossart, Sara Sorbo and Lindsey Schultz all scored in double figures for CC while Trina PaStarr and Danielle Johnson combined to score 46 of the team's 84 points. Nord led the Cobbers with team highs in points, assists and rebounds. She finished the game with 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds. PaStarr went off and tied her career high in points with 27 she also had seven rebounds.

Macalester's (13-9/13-6 MIAC) inside height advantage not only played a key role in the rebounding total but also helped the Scots get to the free throw line 19 more times than the Cobbers. Macalester was 15-for-31 (48.4%) from the foul line while Concordia managed to take just 12 free throws and shot 50.% (6-for-12) from the line.

The Cobbers led for the entire first half and even threatened to run away from the Scots when they took an 11-point lead with 7:26 to play in the period. Macalester then slowly chipped away at the lead and got to within two at 37-35 at the break.

Concordia then jumped out to a seven-point advantage in the second half put couldn't put the Scots away and were finally reeled in for good at the 13:38 mark. The Cobbers made one more run and outscored Macalester 8-0 to take a 63-60 lead. That's when the Scots went on a game-clinching 13-5 streak and grabbed an eight-point lead with 3:31 remaining the game. CC was able to pull within two points on a pair of occasions in the final minute of play but each time, the Scots hit on free throws on the very next possession to ice the game away.

Concordia will play their final regular-season road game of the year when they play at St. Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m.