Carleton Game 2 Recap

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: February 4

Carleton Game Box Score - Now Online!

Gameday Scoring Recap

Team	1st Half	2nd Half	Total
Carleton	39	32	71
Concordia	44	25	69

Gameday Action Pictures

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For a complete Cobber men's basketball photo gallery from the 2005-06 season go to:

www.cord.edu/dept/sports/photo/mbb/index.html

Gameday Recap

MOORHEAD, Minn.-- It was bound to happen. After struggling to field a consistent starting lineup for the past several games and having to play inexperienced

players - the continuity of extended minutes logged for the newcomers would eventually lead to confidence.

Consider the first half against league-leading Carleton as a coming out party for the new-look Cobbers. Concordia shot 69.2% (9-of-13) from 3-point range in the first half, scored 44 points in the opening 20 minutes and looked like a playoff contending team. Unfortunately, the Knights were able to rally in the second half and slow the outside shooting attack of the Cobbers down and came away with a tooth-and-nail 71-69 victory.

Concordia continues to get closer and closer to ending their losing streak. The Cobbers are now 4-12 in league play and 5-15 overall.

The win is the 12th in a row for Carleton which is the third longest winning streak in the history of the program. The Knights have also won 13 straight conference games and find themselves tied for first place after St. Thomas fell to St. John's in overtime on Saturday. Carleton is now 13-3 in the MIAC and 16-5 overall.

Brock Citterman hit three of the Cobbers' nine 3-point field goals in the first half and finished with a team-high 17 points. He was 5-of-12 from behind the arc for the game. Jason Miller even got into the act from behind the arc, hitting on a pair of long-range shots and adding 14 points. Cobber point guard Eric Meichsner had his best shooting performance of the season, going 3-of-3 from 3-point range and finishing with nine points.

Four of the five Carleton starting players scored in double figures. The Knights depth and experience were huge factors in the game. Senior Dan Forkrud and freshman Zach Johnson had 16 points, while Tommy Drake added 15 points and Jake Phillips chipped in 10. Those four combined to score 57 of the team's 71 points (80.3%).

Drake also gave the Knights a huge rebounding presence. He had a game-high seven rebounds and was a constant force under the basket all game long.

After Carleton scored the first three points in the game, Concordia rattled off the next seven to take a lead that they would hold all the way until midway through the second half.

The biggest jaw-dropping moment of the game came in the first half when Concordia hit on five straight 3-point field goals on successive trips down the floor to push a one-point advantage at 17-16 into a 10-point margin at 32-22. The Cobbers built the lead to 12 point at the 6:21 mark of the opening half before the Knights went on a 14-7 run in the final five minutes of the half to cut the lead to 44-39 at the break.

The 44 points in the first half is the second most points scored by the Cobbers in a half all season long. It also tied Concordia's high-water mark for points in the first half of a game.

After shooting 69.2% from 3-point range and 60.7% from the field in the first half, the only question in the arena was if the Cobbers would be able to continue their torrid shooting pace.

Concordia came back down to earth in the final 20 minutes as they shot 26.7% from 3-point range and 40.9% from the floor.

Carleton also cooled off in the second period, shooting 48.0% from the field and a mild 14.3% from long range.

The Knights were able to finally reel Concordia in at the 11:22 mark in the final half. In the next three minutes, the teams would trade the lead four times before Carleton finally pushed the lead to six at 67-61.

Concordia refused to give in and staged a rally to get to within one at 67-66 with 3:41 remaining. Forkrud connected on a conventional 3-point play with 2:46 to go. That would be the last points the Knights would score until the final second of the game.

Trailing 70-66, the Cobbers were unable to get a clutch basket and finished the game on a layup by Ryan Johnson.

Concordia will look to break their recent skid when they play at Augsburg on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 8:00pm. The game can be heard on the internet at: