UM-Morris Game Recap

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: December 13

UM-Morris Game Box Score - Now Online!

Gameday Scoring Recap

Team	1st Half	2nd Half	Total
UM-Morris	28	35	63
Concordia	36	28	64

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Gameday Recap

MOORHEAD, Minn.-- Last year Concordia and UM-Morris hooked up to score 223 points, including 97 in the second half. On Tuesday at Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, the two teams combined for a mere 127 total points and 43 turnovers as the Cobbers prevailed 64-63 in a game that was played at a labored pace from the onset.

The bottom line for Concordia is that they were able to hold on for the win and claim their first non-conference victory of the year. The win, the Cobbers' third in the last four games, sends Concordia into the Christmas holiday with a .500 record at 4-4. The win also caps a seven-day stretch where the Cobbers played four games. Concordia also remains unbeaten at home on the year, improving to 3-0. They are now 12-2 in Memorial Auditorium in the past two seasons.

The Cobbers had three players account for 61% of their scoring production. Keith Eckhoff had a team-high 15 points, while Luke Linz added 14 and Jason Miller chipped in a tough 10 points. Miller also finished with a game-high nine rebounds. Miller and Linz combined for 17 rebounds which was only five rebounds shy of the team total for UM-Morris.

The Cougars were once again led by forward Brendan McNally. McNally posted a game-high 18 points and led UM-Morris in scoring for the seventh time in eight games.

UM-Morris has their one-game winning streak stopped. They are now 2-6 on the season. The 63 points for the Cougars is a season low. They had been averaging 85.7 points per game entering the contest.

Concordia threatened to run away with the game from the start. The Cobbers built a 22-13 lead in the first nine minutes of play and pushed the margin to 12 points with under three minutes remaining in the opening half. The Cougars were able to cut the lead to eight at 36-28 at halftime.

The stretch of four games in seven days caught up with the Cobbers in the second half as they committed 16 turnovers and went 0-of-5 from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes of play.

Concordia continued their 10-point margin for the first eight minutes of the second half but then fell apart at the 9:56 mark. Leading by 10 at 53-43, the Cobbers watched as UM-Morris ran off an 11-2 run and closed to within one at 55-54. The Cougars tied the game three minutes later at 59-59, before Concordia took a lead and then had UM-Morris tie the game two more times before the end of the game.

After a successful free throw by Linz gave Concordia a 64-63 lead with 1:43 to play, the Cobbers came up with a tough defensive stand when Eckhoff stole the ball on the baseline.

The next Cobber possession turned into one of the most puzzling of the night. Eckhoff received the ball on the left side of the free throw line extended and turned to dive to the basket. He drove into a pair of Cougar defenders and pulled up for a possible two-point jumper. Mysteriously, Eckhoff was called for an offensive foul and UM-Morris was give another chance to take the lead.

Corey Kelzenberg missed a jumper with 35 seconds remaining on the next Cougar possession and Cobber sophomore Anthony Boike was fouled after the rebound to try and push the lead to three with a successful 1-and-1 conversion. Boike's first foul attempt narrowly missed and UM-Morris was presented with on more chance at the win.

Concordia was able to force the Cougars to keep the ball at the top of the key until the final seconds of the game when the ball was dished to Steve Farmer on the right side elbow of the lane. Farmer's jumper, which beat the buzzer by a full second, hit the rim and fell off to give Concordia the one-point win.

For the game, Concordia shot 51.0% (26-of-51) from the floor and a routine 83.3% (10-of-12) from the free throw line. The Cobbers fell short in turnovers and 3-point field goal percentage. Concordia shot 18.2% (2-of-11) from behind the arc, their lowest total of the season and second lowest in the last three years.

The Cobbers continued to shine around the basket. Concordia outrebounded the Cougars 40-22 and held a decisive 38-25 advantage in points scored in the "paint".

UM-Morris shot 36.5% (23-of-63) from the floor. Like the Cobbers, they were ice-like from 3-point range. The Cougars shot 21.1% (4-of-19) from behind the arc, which is also a season low.

Not surprisingly, UM-Morris took advantage of the Cobber miscues, outscoring Concordia 25-15 in points off of turnovers.

Concordia will return to action on Jan. 2 when they play at Macalester at 7:30pm. The next Cobber home game is on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 8:00pm against Augsburg.