Cross-Town Rivalry Turns Into 3-Pt. Battle
Concordia and MSU Moorhead were both hot from outside the arc but it was the Dragons who came out with the win.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/22/16) --- The Battle of 8th Street could have been named the "Battle of the 3-point Line" on Tuesday night.
MSU Moorhead shot 65.4% (17-of-26) from distance and 63.6% (42-of-66) from the floor as they defeated Concordia 107-74 in Memorial Auditorium. The Cobbers were a respectable 33.3% (8-for-24) from 3-point range and 47.5% (28-for-59) from the fiel but couldn't keep up with the scorching Dragons.
The Cobbers drop to 1-2 while the Dragons roll on and improve to 4-1.
The Dragons raced out to a 52-31 lead at half after hitting 10 of their 17 shots from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes.
The Cobbers came out firing in the second half. Dylan Alderman got to the line twice and swished both foul shots and Zach Kinny connected on a deep ball to cut the deficit to 56-40.
After a turnover, CC scored on the ensuing six possessions, including a layup and trifecta from Guilherme Saad.
Minutes later Saad drilled another long ball that brought the score to 69-57 with 11:21 to play but the Cobbers would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Fargo-Moorhead natives Aaron Lien and Tanner Kretchman hit back-to-back 3-pointers to jump-start a 26-7 run over the next six minutes that put the game out of reach.
Concordia had five players reach double figures led by Saad who had a career-high 14 points. Austin Nelson had 13 points, Dawson Peterson finished with 12 points while Austin Heins and Alderman chipped in with 11 points.
MSU also had five players in double figures led by Ayob Ayob's 23 points.
LONG DISTANCE DOMINATION: The Dragons have a history of shooting well from outside the arc against the Cobbers. MSU Moorhead has shot at least 40.0% from outside the arc in six straight games vs. Concordia.
A GOOD YEAR FOR BRAZIL – Brazilian native Gui Saad showed his shooting ability by going 4-for-5 from behind the arc and 5-of-6 from the field overall en route to a 14-point scoring output. The 14 points and four made triples are both career highs. Saad has now scored 25 points in the last two games. He had 40 points in all of last year.
FULL NELSON – With his 13-point night, Austin Nelson has now scored 10 or more in each game this season. He leads the team with a 17.0 points per game average. Nelson has also scored in double figures in two straight games against the Dragons. He had 11 last year at MSUM.
WHAT'S NEXT? Concordia will stay in Moorhead for the Thanksgiving holiday and then head towards Lake Superior over the weekend. The Cobbers will square off against St. Scholastica on Saturday afternoon in Duluth. The Saints are 1-2 and are coming off an 83-65 loss at St. Thomas.
CONCORDIA vs. MSU MOORHEAD HIGHLIGHTS
