The Cobbers climb to 4-4 in conference play and 6-7 overall. More importantly, the win over Bethel drops the Royals into the logjam in fourth place with a 4-4 mark in the MIAC. Bethel has now lost three straight games and sees their overall mark dip to 9-4.
Besides scoring his career-high in points, Nelson also grabbed 10 rebounds to collect his third double-double of his collegiate career and first since January 28 of 2004 when he scored 11 points and hauled down 11 rebounds in a game at St. John's. To complete Nelson's statistical line for the night he also had two blocked shots and had a steal. He went 11-of-18 from the floor and 3-of-4 from shots behind the arc.
Two other players finished in double figures for the Cobbers. Eckhoff, who entered tha game as the league's second leading scorer, received constant attention all game long and finished with 18 points. Jason Miller added 11 points, and point guard Eric Meichsner dished off six assists and handled the Bethel pressure all game long - only turning the ball over one time.
Gilbert led the way for the Royals. The third-leading scorer in the conference coming into the game, Gilbert had 20 points and added a game-high seven assists. The main outside weapon for Bethel turned out to be Tyson Bjorklund. Bjorklund entered the game hitting at a 46.9% clip from 3-point range. He proceeded to shoot "lights out" for most of the game and finished with 25 points and went 7-of-10 from long range.
The game started out as a carbon copy of the women's game with Bethel grabbing an early lead in the first five minutes of the game. The Royals stretched their lead to as many as six before Concordia went on a 10-2 run to take a 17-15 lead with 12:35 left in the half. Bethel countered with an 10-4 run of their own to claim a 25-21 lead. The Cobbers were able to stem the tide and tie the game at 28-28 with 4:36 left to go in the opening period before the Royals closed by scoring 10 of the final 15 points of the half.
The second half belonged to Nelson as he scored 20 points, went 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range. For good measure, he also hauled down six rebounds and had two blocked shots in the final 20 minutes of play.
The final 15 minutes of the second half was a see-saw affair as the lead changed hands five different times and the score was tied on seven different occasions.
Concordia grabbed their first lead of the final frame at the 14:21 mark, and then went ahead of the Royals for the final time at 1:04 when Eckhoff completed a traditional 3-point play to push the score to 75-74. From there, the Cobbers stretched the lead to as many as five at 79-74 and then again at 81-76 before Gilbert hit a 3-point shot to cut the lead to a single basket at 81-79. Fittingly enough it was Nelson that iced the game for Concordia when he sank two free throws with five seconds remaining to give Concordia an 83-79 lead.
Concordia shot 48.2% (27-of-56) from the floor and 50.0% (5-of-10) from 3-point range, while the Royals shot 44.1% (30-of-68) from the floor and 39.4% (13-of-33) from behind the arc. The biggest difference in statistics came from points scored around the basket. The Cobbers bested the Royals 42-20 in points from inside the "paint".
Concordia will only have a single day off as they prepare to play league-leading St. Thomas on Monday, January 17 at 7:30pm in St. Paul. They will then play five consecutive home games beginning on Wednesday, January 19 at 7:30pm when they play Hamline. Both games can be heard live on 1280AM "The Fan" radio in the Fargo-Moorhead area and via the internet at www.gocobbers.com.
Newspaper Box Score Bethel University vs Concordia College 01/15/05 3:00 at Moorhead, MN/Memorial Auditorium At Moorhead, MN/Memorial Auditorium CONCORDIA COLLEGE 83, BETHEL UNIVERSITY 82 BETHEL UNIVERSITY (4-4 MIAC/9-4) Tyson Bjorklund 9-12 0-0 25; Tim Gilbert 6-22 5-6 20; Trent Perry 4-9 0-0 9; Charles Meadowcroft 4-9 0-0 8; Steve Strom 2-3 2-6 7; Isaac Hinrichs 3-3 0-1 6; Wade Blazejak 1-5 0-0 3; Issac Allen 1-2 0-0 2; Matt Fredrickson 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 30-68 9-15 82. CONCORDIA COLLEGE (4-4 MIAC/6-7) Soren Nelson 11-18 7-10 32; Keith Eckhoff 4-13 9-12 18; Jason Miller 5-9 1-1 11; Ryan Templeton 3-5 2-2 9; Mark Dixon 2-6 2-3 6; Luke Linz 1-3 3-6 5; Eric Meichsner 1-1 0-0 2; E.J. Adams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 24-34 83. Bethel University............. 38 44 - 82 Concordia College............. 33 50 - 83 3-point goals-Bethel University 13-33 (Tyson Bjorklund 7-10; Tim Gilbert 3-10; Steve Strom 1-1; Trent Perry 1-5; Wade Blazejak 1-4; Matt Fredrickson 0-1; Issac Allen 0-1; Charles Meadowcroft 0-1), Concordia College 5-10 (Soren Nelson 3-4; Keith Eckhoff 1-4; Ryan Templeton 1-2). Fouled out--Bethel University-Isaac Hinrichs; Steve Strom, Concordia College-Mark Dixon. Rebounds-Bethel University 32 (Steve Strom 7), Concordia College 36 (Soren Nelson 10). Assists-Bethel University 15 (Tim Gilbert 7), Concordia College 17 (Eric Meichsner 6). Total fouls-Bethel University 27, Concordia College 15.