Another Big Run At St. Thomas Drops Cobbers

ST. PAUL, Minn. (1/18/14)—One thing is for certain when Concordia plays at St. Thomas – the Tommies will make a big run at some point in the 40 minutes of play. The Cobbers gave up a 29-8 stretch on both sides of the halftime break and lost 76-60 at No.11-ranked St. Thomas.

The loss is the third in the last four games for Concordia. CC is now 7-8 overall and 3-7 in the MIAC. The Tommies win their fifth straight game and are now 11-2 in all contests and 8-0 in league play.

The start of the game usually spells doom for the Cobbers in Schoenecker Arena. In recent history Concordia has fallen behind by double digits in the first five minutes of play but that wasn't the case on Saturday. The Cobbers came out and scored six of the first eight points in the contest and led for the first 18:41 of the game. That's when the contest changed and the Tommies went on their decisive run.

St. Thomas won the game in a span of 13:56 at the end of the first period to midway through the second. During that time the Cobbers had the ball on 21 possessions and went from being up five points to trailing by 22 points and were outscored 29-8. That stretch saw CC go 4-for-17 (23.5%) from the floor while the Tommies connected on 68.4% (13-for-19) of their attempts from the floor.

If you take that 13:56 stretch out of the game, the Cobbers outscored the Tommies 52-47.

St. Thomas used their size to gain a 26-8 edge in points in the paint and a 34-22 advantage in rebounds. The Cobbers were also kept off the offensive glass. Concordia had grabbed at least 12 offensive boards in five of its last six games heading into Saturday but were held to just five offensive rebounds vs. UST. The Cobbers only had two second-chance points in the game.

Junior guard Brandon Giese renewed his shooting touch from the outside. He went 4-for-4 from 3-point range and finished with a game-high 18 points. Giese scored 13 of the team's first 15 points in the contest and single-handedly staked the Cobbers to a 15-11 lead.

Tom Fraase and Jordan Bolger were the only other CC players with more than five points in the game. Fraase scored eight points and added three assists while Bolger had seven points and a team-high four rebounds.

Concordia returns home for a three-game home stand. The Cobbers will face Macalester on Wednesday, Gustavus on Saturday and then Bethel on a week from Wednesday.