The second was Concordia senior Soren Nelson's attempt to become the ninth player in Cobber men's basketball history to score 1,000 points in a career.
After 40 minutes of play both story lines had been played out and both were met with encore accolades.
Concordia scored 58 points in the first half en route to crushing Augsburg 105-79 and clinching a spot in the conference playoffs. As good as the Cobbers offense was in the game, Nelson was even better. He drained 14-of-19 shots (73.6%), scored a career-high 33 points and smashed the 1,000-point barrier. For good measure he also grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.
Concordia's 26-point win was the largest margin of victory this season and most since the Cobbers beat Hamline by 40 points at the end of last season. The win also puts Concordia into the league playoffs for the second consecutive season and third in the past five years. Finally, Concordia is now tied with Bethel for fourth place in the MIAC - the final spot to host a home playoff game. The Cobbers are now 10-7 in the MIAC and 12-10 overall.
Augsburg continues their free fall from the top of the MIAC to out of the playoffs. The Auggies, who started the season 4-2 in league play, have lost seven of their past eight games and are now 6-11 in league play and 8-14 overall.
Nelson entered the game needing 12 points to become the ninth player in men's basketball history to score 1,000 points for a career. He surpassed that milestone by hitting a fade-away jumper from the baseline with 10:31 left in the first half. He continued to knock down shot after shot in the first 20 minutes and finished the opening half with 23 points and nine rebounds. He was the catalyst behind Concordia's 58-point offensive outburst in the first half. That total is the most points scored in a single half since they scored 65 in the second half against Mayville State on November 11, 2003.
Staked to a 20-point lead, Concordia continued to attack the Augsburg basket and finished the game by outscoring the Auggies 47-41 in the second half. For the game, the Cobbers shot 65.5% (38-of-58) from the floor and also knocked down 47.4% (9-of-19) from 3-point range. Augsburg shot 40.0% in both halves and finished the game by making 28-of-70 shots from the floor. Concordia held a decisive edge in rebounding as they gained a 39-25 margin on the glass.
Besides Nelson's career game, Concordia placed four players in double figures and had nine players score at least two points. Keith Eckhoff won the battle of the league's top two scorers. He finished with 19 points as compared to only four from Augsburg's Lucas Olson-Patterson. Eckhoff also added seven assists. Freshman Brock Citterman continues to gain confidence in a Cobber uniform and put up his best numbers as a college player. He scored 17 points in 20 minutes of action and went 5-of-8 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Luke Linz was the second Concordia reserve to score in double-digits. He was 5-of-6 from the field and finished with 12 points.
Augsburg was led in scoring by a pair of players that came off the bench. Olson-Patterson, entered the game as the league's top scorer, but made only 2-of-11 shots from the floor and was hampered by a tough defensive presence from the Cobbers. Curtis Batchelor scored 21 points and hauled down 10 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. Devin Rose made 7-of-9 shots from the floor and finished with 20 points in the losing effort.
Newspaper Box Score Augsburg College vs Concordia College 02/09/05 7:30 at Moorhead, MN/Memorial Auditorium At Moorhead, MN/Memorial Auditorium CONCORDIA COLLEGE 105, AUGSBURG COLLEGE 79 AUGSBURG COLLEGE (6-11 MIAC/8-14) Curtis Batchelor 7-16 7-10 21; Devin Rose 7-9 4-8 20; Justin Kozlowski 6-15 1-2 15; Kevin Keto 3-6 2-2 8; Tait Thomsen 1-1 3-4 5; LucasOlson-Patterson 2-11 0-1 4; Dan Graf 1-4 0-0 2; Charlie Scott 1-4 0-0 2; Aaron Benesh 0-1 2-2 2; Zach Reinke 0-2 0-0 0; Justin Olson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-70 19-29 79. CONCORDIA COLLEGE (10-7 MIAC/12-10) Soren Nelson 14-19 3-6 33; Keith Eckhoff 7-12 3-4 19; Brock Citterman 5-8 5-6 17; Luke Linz 5-6 2-3 12; Jason Miller 2-4 3-3 7; Ryan Templeton 2-2 0-0 6; Anthony Boike 2-3 1-2 5; Eric Meichsner 1-3 1-2 4; David Whartnaby 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 38-58 20-28 105. Augsburg College.............. 38 41 - 79 Concordia College............. 58 47 - 105 3-point goals-Augsburg College 4-21 (Devin Rose 2-2; Justin Kozlowski 2-8; LucasOlson-Patterson 0-4; Charlie Scott 0-3; Aaron Benesh 0-1; Zach Reinke 0-1; Justin Olson 0-1; Kevin Keto 0-1), Concordia College 9-19 (Keith Eckhoff 2-6; Ryan Templeton 2-2; Brock Citterman 2-4; Soren Nelson 2-4; Eric Meichsner 1-2; Anthony Boike 0-1). Fouled out--Augsburg College-Devin Rose, Concordia College-None. Rebounds-Augsburg College 25 (Curtis Batchelor 10), Concordia College 39 (Soren Nelson 15). Assists-Augsburg College 6 (Devin Rose 2), Concordia College 22 (Eric Meichsner 7; Keith Eckhoff 7). Total fouls-Augsburg College 22, Concordia College 24. A-433