News Release

Winona, Minn. — It started off as a four-game, seven-day marathon to see if Concordia could position themselves for a spot in the playoffs. It turned into a four-game, playoff clinching statement that told the rest of the league that the Cobbers are ready for the playoffs.

The final victim in the week-long tour was St. Mary's. Concordia scored the first seven points, led wire-to-wire and came away with a convincing 87-66 victory. The Cobbers have won four consecutive game for the second time this season and have now won 11 of their last 13 games. Concordia improves to 13-5 in the MIAC and 16-6 overall. Both win totals are the most since the 1995-96 season when the Cobbers went 16-4 in league play, 21-6 overall and won the MIAC playoff championship. The Cardinals lose for the fourth straight time and fall to 4-13 in the conference and 5-17 overall.

Soren Nelson led all scorers for the Cobbers as he finished with a game-high 20 points. The junior, forward was 6-for-10 from field and 8-for-11 from the free throw line. Three other Concordia players claimed scoring totals in double
digits. Keith Eckhoff scored 13 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He is now 36-for-38 (94.7%) from the foul line in the past five games. Josh Downey, this week's MIAC Player of the Week, added 12 points, and Joe Bueckers chipped in 12 points. Bueckers was 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. He has made his last 13 free throw attempts and currently leads the MIAC in free throw percentage (93.8%).

A pair of players that usually see limited playing time played a major role in the Cobbers' eighth road win of the season. Dan Lund scored a career-high seven points and grabbed three rebounds, and Ryan Templeton added a career-high nine points and three rebounds. Both players gave Concordia head coach Duane Siverson solid minutes, and infused the team with the needed energy to pull off the victory on the longest road trip of the season.

A pair of Cardinal players factored in double figures. Dan Cloak had team highs in points (13) and rebounds (6), and Jeff Tendall added 10 points before fouling out with 4:39 left to go in the game.

The Cobbers continued their torrid pace from the free throw line. Concordia made 31-of-37 (83.8%) free throw attempts. They made more free throws than St. Mary's attempted (21), which marks the fifth straight game that Concordia has accomplished that feat. The Cobbers are currently
shooting 77.0% from the free throw line for the season, which leads the MIAC and is in the top ten in the nation.

Concordia shot 57.8% (26-for-45) from the field. It is the fourth game straight game that the Cobbers have shot over 50% from the floor. St. Mary's was able to shoot 44.4% (24-for-54) from the field in the losing effort. The Cardinals shot 61.9% (13-for-21) from the free thow line.

Concordia will have a chance to catch its breath before hosting Hamline on Saturday, February 14 at 3:00pm. The game will not be aired on KVOX 1280AM, but will be broadcast live over the internet at www.gocobbers.com/soundfb.html.

Newspaper Box Score
Concordia College vs Saint Mary's
2/9/04 7:30 at SMU Gym, Winona, Minn.
At SMU Gym, Winona, Minn.
CONCORDIA COLLEGE 87, SAINT MARY'S 66
CONCORDIA COLLEGE (13-5 MIAC, 16-6)
Soren Nelson 6-10 8-11 20; Keith Eckhoff 3-6 6-6 13; Josh Downey 4-6 3-3 12;
Joe Bueckers 4-5 2-2 12; Ryan Templeton 3-5 3-4 9; Dan Lund 2-4 3-4 7; Chris
Wermerson 1-3 3-4 5; Brandon Borgstahl 2-3 1-1 5; Nathan Ohme 1-3 2-2 4.
Totals 26-45 31-37 87.
SAINT MARY'S (4-13 MIAC, 5-17)
Dan Kloak 4-7 4-7 13; Jeff Tendall 3-10 3-3 10; Todd Yankowski 3-5 2-2 9;
Steve Feller 4-7 0-0 8; Terrence Smith 3-5 0-0 6; Ryan Bormann 2-5 1-5 6;
Will Floyd 3-5 0-0 6; Jimmy Wajda 1-2 2-2 4; Mike O'Hara 1-2 1-2 4; Allyn
Emery 0-1 0-0 0; John Gencius 0-1 0-0 0; Travis Simmering 0-1 0-0 0; Michael
Batterman 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 13-21 66.
Concordia College.............   38   49  -   87
Saint Mary's..................   26   40  -   66
3-point goals-Concordia College 4-10 (Joe Bueckers 2-3; Josh Downey 1-2;
Keith Eckhoff 1-2; Nathan Ohme 0-1; Dan Lund 0-2), Saint Mary's 5-16 (Jeff
Tendall 1-6; Ryan Bormann 1-1; Mike O'Hara 1-1; Todd Yankowski 1-3; Dan
Kloak 1-1; Allyn Emery 0-1; John Gencius 0-1; Michael Batterman 0-1; Steve
Feller 0-1). Fouled out--Concordia College-None, Saint Mary's-Jeff Tendall.
Rebounds-Concordia College 28 (Chris Wermerson 7), Saint Mary's 29 (Dan
Kloak 6). Assists-Concordia College 15 (Nathan Ohme 3; Chris Wermerson 3),
Saint Mary's 15 (Jimmy Wajda 5). Total fouls-Concordia College 16, Saint
Mary's 31. A-167