An 80's Road Trip
Concordia showed no effects of playing on the road for the first time in two weeks.
WINONA, Minn. (1/13/16) --- Concordia left the friendly confines of Memorial Auditorium for the first time in nearly two weeks and turned St. Mary's Gym into Moorhead South as they outscored the Cardinals in both halves and posted an 81-56 win.
It is the seventh win in-a-row against the Cardinals and the fourth consecutive season Concordia has won in Winona.
Concordia has now won three straight conference games and five out of the last six to improve to 8-6 overall and 5-4 in MIAC play. St. Mary's drops to 4-8 overall and 2-6 in conference play.
The Cobbers got down 6-0 early but used a 15-6 run over a span of five minutes which included 3-pointers from Tom Fraase, Dylan Alderman and Zach Kinny to take a 15-12.
Isaac Anderson poured in half of his career-high 16 points in the first half. Anderson utilized an array of hook shots and rebound put-backs to score inside the pain. He added six rebounds in the first half alone to lead the Cobbers.
Brett Bergeson connected from distance for a triple that gave the Cobbers a 32-20 lead with five minutes to play in the half, but the Cardinals scored eight unanswered to cut the deficit to 32-28 until Anderson scored down low with 3:15 to play.
Neither team would score for the next 3:14 until Alderman had an acrobatic rebound-put-back as time expired. Concordia held for the final possession and a Cobber player air-balled a deep 3-point attempt, but Alderman soared in and caught it then flipped it off the glass and in without looking.
Concordia shot 51.7% (15-of-29) as compared to 39.3% (11-of-28) for St. Mary's in the first half of play. CC also narrowly outrebounded the Cardinals 16-15 en route to their 36-28 halftime lead.
Jordan Bolger was limited to just six points in the first half. The Apple Valley product pumped in a quick four points to start the second half. That outburst helped answer the Cardinals who scored eight points on their first three possessions of the second half.
The Cobbers were extremely efficient in the second half. The team shot 60.0% (15-of-25) from the field and 3-point line (3-of-5) while going 85.0% (12-of-14) from the charity stripe.
Guilherme Saad drilled a triple from the top of the key that made it 45-37 with 16:08 to play and that would be as close as St. Mary's would get for the remainder of the half.
Concordia scored on 14 of the next 20 possessions and built their lead to 75-52 - their largest of the game, with 5:08 to play.
Bolger scored eight of the Cobbers' final 16 points to reach the 20-point barrier for the eighth time in 12 games played. He has scored in double figures in every game this season and leads the conference in scoring at 18.8 points per contest. Averaging 8.1 rebounds per game, the third most in the MIAC, he also managed to haul down seven boards.
The Cobber bench outscored their opponent for the second straight game, pouring in 31 points compared to the Cardinals' 15 points.
The 14 trifectas attempted by Concordia is the second lowest attempt total of the season. The Cobbers connected on half of their attempts against the Cardinals.
STUCK IN THE 80'S
Forget the big hair, rolled up-cuffed faded blue jeans and pop music, the 80's the Cobbers are stuck in is a good thing. Concordia scored in the 80's for the fifth straight game which is the longest streak of 80 or more points in program history.
Concordia now leads the MIAC in scoring with a 78.6 points per game average. CC also leads in field goal and free throw percentages in the conference. The Cobbers are shooting a crisp 51.3% from the field and a warm 76.0% from the charity stripe.
HAMMER TIME/CAREER NIGHT FOR THE BIG FELLA
Isaac Anderson notched a rim-rattling dunk for the third game in a row. His career-high 16 points marks the fifth time this season Anderson has scored in double figures. His eight rebounds was also a season-high and career high.
COMPLETE STAT LINE
Dylan Alderman did a little bit of everything for the Cobbers in Winona. He scored 11 points to reach double digit scoring for the seventh time this season and fifth time in the past seven games. He also notched a career-high eight boards while dishing out seven dimes and picking up a steal.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Cobbers will travel to Macalester on Saturday to complete their mini-road trip at 1 p.m. The Scots are coming off a 71-64 loss at home against St. Olaf. Macalester is 3-10 overall and 1-7 in league play.