News Release

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Concordia stumbled to a 29-point first half and then pounded the ball inside in the second half and cruised past St. Mary's 70-58 in the home opener for the Cobbers.

Concordia outscored the Cardinals 30-12 in points scored from inside the "paint" area as they were able to get quality scoring chances from close range throughout the final 20 minutes.

The win pushes the Cobbers' conference record to 2-1 and their overall mark to 2-3. St. Mary's loses for the first time in league play. The Cardinals are now 2-1 in the MIAC and 3-3 overall.

The power pair of Mark Dixon and Luke Linz paced the Cobber offense. The two forwards each scored a game-high 18 points. For Dixon, the 18 points is a career high and comes on the heels of a 16-point performance against Gustavus. Dixon also collected a team-high seven rebounds. Linz, who went 7-of-10 from the floor in the game, finished with 18 points and four rebounds.

Cobber seniors Keith Eckhoff and Jason Miller also posted point totals in double digits as four of Concordia's starting five all scored at least 10 points. Eckhoff was held to only two points in the first half, but broke out in the second half to finish the game with 13 points. He now has 970 career points and needs 30 more to become the 10th player in Concordia men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point barrier. Miller chipped in 11 points in the win, going 4-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free throw line.

Besides the decisive in points from underneath the basket, Concordia's power game produced a game-changing edge in free throws. The Cobbers made 10 more free throws than St. Mary's attempted. Concordia was 21-of-27 (77.8%) from the line, while the Cardinals went 10-of-11 from the free throw stripe.

St. Mary's had three players in double figures. Michael Batterman led the Cardinals with 12 points. He also hauled down a game-high eight rebounds. John Scurlock had 11 points and Fiore Buccieri came off the bench to add 10. Scurlock and Buccieri both went 2-of-3 from 3-point range.

The Cardinals were done in by their interior defense and also turnovers. St. Mary's coughed the ball up 22 times as compared to only 14 for the Cobbers.

Concordia will host St. Olaf on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 3:15pm in their final conference game before the Christmas break.

St. Mary's University vs Concordia College
12/07/05 8:00pm at Memorial Auditorium/Moorhead, MN
At Memorial Auditorium/Moorhead, MN
CONCORDIA COLLEGE 70, ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY 58
ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY (2-1 MIAC/3-3)
Michael Batterman 5-9 2-2 12; John Scurlock 4-8 1-1 11; Fiore Buccieri 2-5
4-4 10; Terrence Smith 3-8 3-4 9; Brensley Haywood 2-5 0-0 6; Michael Rohr
1-3 0-0 3; Mike Sweeney 1-6 0-0 3; Dan Cormier 1-1 0-0 2; Eric Lear 1-2 0-0
2; John Gencius 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 10-11 58.
CONCORDIA COLLEGE (2-1 MIAC/2-3)
Luke Linz 7-10 4-6 18; Mark Dixon 5-10 8-9 18; Keith Eckhoff 5-13 2-4 13;
Jason Miller 4-6 3-4 11; Ryan Templeton 1-2 0-0 3; Anthony Boike 1-1 0-0 3;
Gavin Ganab 0-1 2-2 2; Eric Meichsner 0-1 2-2 2; Cody Dyshaw 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 23-46 21-27 70.
St. Mary's University.........   29   29  -   58
Concordia College.............   29   41  -   70
3-point goals-St. Mary's University 8-17 (Brensley Haywood 2-5; John
Scurlock 2-3; Fiore Buccieri 2-3; Mike Sweeney 1-4; Michael Rohr 1-1; John
Gencius 0-1), Concordia College 3-11 (Ryan Templeton 1-1; Anthony Boike 1-1;
Keith Eckhoff 1-3; Gavin Ganab 0-1; Eric Meichsner 0-1; Cody Dyshaw 0-2;
Jason Miller 0-1; Mark Dixon 0-1). Fouled out--St. Mary's University-None,
Concordia College-None. Rebounds-St. Mary's University 29 (Michael Batterman
8), Concordia College 26 (Mark Dixon 7). Assists-St. Mary's University 16
(Fiore Buccieri 4), Concordia College 17 (Mark Dixon 5; Keith Eckhoff 5).
Total fouls-St. Mary's University 22, Concordia College 13. A-268