The 22-point margin of victory is the largest of the season for the Cobbers and is the biggest since Concordia beat Hamline by 40 points on February 14 of last season.
The Cobbers shot 65.2% (15-of-23) in the second period to turn a 10-point halftime lead into a 22-point thumping. Concordia also hit on four of their eight shots from behind the arc in the final 20 minutes. For the game, Concordia shot 58.5% (31-of-53) from the floor and 56.3% (9-of-16) from 3-point range. They also hit on 10 of the 11 free throws they attempted.
The win puts a positive stamp on a five-game homestand for the Cobbers. They finished with a 4-1 record and are squarely in the thick of the MIAC playoff race. With five games left to go in the regular season, Concordia is 8-6 in league play, which places them in fifth place. They are currently one loss out of fourth place. The Cobbers are now 10-9 overall, marking the second consecutive season they have posted at least 10 wins in the year.
With the loss, St. Olaf slides to 3-10 in the MIAC and 7-11 overall.
Four different Concordia players factored in double figures. Soren Nelson led all scorers with 17 points. It is the second straight game he has led the team in scoring. His biggest production came from behind the arc where he went 3-of-6. Keith Eckhoff had his second straight sub-20 point production total. He was held to 14 points and was only 2-of-5 from 3-point range. Jason Miller scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high six rebounds. The league's most accurate shooter went 5-of-6 from the floor and upped his season field-goal average to 62.5%. Luke Linz, turning into a Miller "mini-me", went 4-of-6 from the floor and finished with 10 points.
St. Olaf was led by the Jon B. tandem of Jon Butala and Jon Bain. Butala went 4-of-5 from behind the arc and had a team-high 14 points. Bain posted 11 points and a team-high five rebounds.
Concordia will finally head out on the road when they play at Macalester on Wednesday, February 2 at 7:30pm. That game will be a key conference showdown as the Scots are only percentage points behind the Cobbers with a 7-6 MIAC mark. The game 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 St. Olaf College vs Concordia College 01/30/05 3:00 at Moorhead, MN/Memorial Auditorium At Moorhead, MN/Memorial Auditorium CONCORDIA COLLEGE 81, ST. OLAF COLLEGE 59 ST. OLAF COLLEGE (3-10 MIAC/7-11) Jon Butala 5-6 0-0 14; Jon Bain 4-7 3-3 11; Mark Bergstrom 3-5 0-0 6; Andy Grimsrud 2-3 0-0 5; Pat Fraser 2-4 0-0 5; Bobby Hunter 2-4 0-0 4; Erik Sviggum 2-3 0-0 4; Steve Banick 2-3 0-0 4; Eric Scholten 1-2 0-0 2; Tucker Weisman 1-5 0-0 2; Wade Pierce 1-2 0-0 2; Chris Clark 0-2 0-0 0; Chad Norberg 0-2 0-0 0; Will Johnson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 3-3 59. CONCORDIA COLLEGE (8-6 MIAC/10-9) Soren Nelson 6-14 2-2 17; Keith Eckhoff 5-11 2-2 14; Jason Miller 5-6 2-2 12; Luke Linz 4-6 0-0 10; E.J. Adams 3-5 2-3 8; Mark Dixon 3-4 0-0 7; Ryan Templeton 2-2 2-2 6; Eric Meichsner 2-4 0-0 5; Anthony Boike 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-53 10-11 81. St. Olaf College.............. 29 30 - 59 Concordia College............. 39 42 - 81 3-point goals-St. Olaf College 6-15 (Jon Butala 4-5; Pat Fraser 1-2; Andy Grimsrud 1-1; Erik Sviggum 0-1; Tucker Weisman 0-3; Chris Clark 0-1; Will Johnson 0-2), Concordia College 9-16 (Soren Nelson 3-6; Keith Eckhoff 2-5; Luke Linz 2-3; Eric Meichsner 1-1; Mark Dixon 1-1). Fouled out--St. Olaf College-None, Concordia College-None. Rebounds-St. Olaf College 18 (Eric Scholten 5; Jon Bain 5), Concordia College 21 (Jason Miller 6). Assists-St. Olaf College 17 (Erik Sviggum 4), Concordia College 25 (Eric Meichsner 6). Total fouls-St. Olaf College 12, Concordia College 10. A-573