Bethel Game 1 Recap

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: January 14

Bethel Game Box Score - Now Online!

Gameday Scoring Recap

Team	1st Half	2nd Half	Total
Concordia	29	40	69
Bethel	38	35	74

Gameday Recap

ST. PAUL, Minn.-- Heading into their game at Bethel, Concordia was in a five-way tie for third place in the conference and about to embark on a four-game stretch that would decide whether they are going to play for one of the top three spots in the MIAC or trying to scrap to get into the six-team conference tournament. After the first game of that stretch, the Cobbers have been bumped into a tie for sixth place and are facing a match-up with league-leading St. Thomas on Monday.

The bump in the road to the top of the MIAC was handed out by the Royals in a 74-69 loss in Arden Hills. The Cobbers fell victim to a Bethel surge at the end of the first half and a Royal bench that outscored its Concordia counterparts 29-6.

The outcome of the game overshadowed the career performance put in by Cobber post player Jason Miller. Miller scored a career-high 25 points and was 3-of-6 from 3-point range in the game. Coming into the game, Miller had connected on only one 3-point field goal in his freshman, sophomore and junior years at Concordia.

The evens Concordia's conference mark at 4-4 and drops their overall record to 5-7. Bethel wins for the fifth time in the past seven games. They also push their league record to 3-5 after starting the season by losing their first four MIAC games. The Royals are now 8-5 overall.

Bethel junior forward Charles Meadowcraft proved to be the pivotal player in the game for the Royals. The junior forward did Miller one point better as he finished with 26 points and went 11-of-18 from the floor. He was also a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line.

Both teams shot in the 40% range for the game. The only significant difference in the box score was the fact that the Royals were able to put up 11 more shots than the Cobbers. Bethel was 29-of-64 (45.3%) from the field as compared to 23-of-53 (43.4%) for Concordia. The extra 11 shots and six made baskets proved to be the difference in the five-point victory.

To go along with the shot total differential, Concordia came out on the wrong end of the bench scoring battle. The Cobbers received only six points from players other than their starting five in the game. To make matters worse, Brock Citterman was the only Cobber reserve to score. He put up all six Concordia bench points. He also added three rebounds and two assists.

Luke Linz and Mark Dixon were the only other Concordia players to score more points than Citterman. Linz had 18 points, while Dixon posted 14 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds.

Bethel's bench combined for 29 points and had two players factor in double figures. In all, four different players posted double-digit point totals. Besides Meadowcraft, reserve forward Matt Frederickson added 13 points, Tim Madson chipped in 12 from off the bench and Tyson Bjorklund countered with 10.

Concordia will now host league-leading St. Thomas on Monday, Jan. 16 at 8:00pm. The game can be heard live via the internet at: