Hamline Game 1 Recap

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: January 18

Hamline Game Box Score - Now Online!

Gameday Scoring Recap

Team	1st Half	2nd Half	Total
Concordia	44	33	77
Hamline	35	50	85

Gameday Recap

ST. PAUL, Minn.-- In a script that would be even far-fetched for the show Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Concordia lost two more starting players to injuries and couldn't hold off a hard-charging Hamline and fell 85-77 in St. Paul.

Duane Siverson's crew lost preseason All-American Keith Eckhoff before the Christmas break to a season-ending knee injury and then fellow senior Mark Dixon separated his shoulder in the Cobbers' loss to St. Thomas on Monday night. Entering the game without the services of two of their top five players, Concordia watched as Luke Linz went down with a possible torn arch in his foot after playing only 14 minutes in the game and then center Jason Miller drop after getting poked in the game with 4:20 remaining in the game and Concordia leading 72-71. The Pipers used a depleted Cobber frontline in the final four minutes to outscore Concordia 14-5 and come away with an 85-77 victory.

The four injured Cobbers represent 69.4% of the team's overall scoring output and over 50% of the team's total minutes played in the season.

The hole in the Cobber was filled by sophomore Brock Citterman who went off for a career-high 25 points and was 4-of-8 from 3-point range. He also hauled in a team-high five rebounds and had three assists. Miller had 20 points before he left the game after accidentally getting poked in the eye, an injury whose severity is yet to be determined.

Ryan Johnson came off the bench to score six points, grab four rebounds and add four assists. Ryan Templeton contributed four points, four assists and three rebounds in the losing effort.

Kyle Foster had 23 points to pace the Pipers. He also came away with a game-high eight rebounds. Freshman Jon DeRock, coming off the bench for the first time all season, had 14 points and came up with a pair of key steals down the stretch and hit on 4-of-6 free throws in the final minute of the game. Kory Kelzer was the only other Hamline player to score in double figures. Kelzer was 5-of-8 from the floor and had 13 points.

The Cobbers used a 9-3 run in the final 4:00 in the first half to take a 44-35 lead into the break. They built the lead all the way to 13 points in the opening two minutes of the second half before Hamline was able to rally and get back in the game. The Pipers went on a 23-7 run in the following 7:13 to grab a three-point lead with 11:00 to go. The team's then traded leads over the next 10 minutes as the game tightened up and the lead changed eight different times during that stretch.

After Miller went down with 4:20 remaining, Concordia grabbed a 72-71 lead. Hamline took the lead for good on their next possession and the Cobbers were never able to counter the Pipers down the stretch.

Concordia is now 4-6 in the MIAC and 5-9 overall, while the Pipers jump to 5-5 in league play and 6-9 overall.

The Cobbers will host St. John's on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 3:15pm. The game can be heard live via the internet at: