Newton Was Right
Concordia's shooting touch fell back to earth in a 68-53 loss at Hamline on Saturday.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (1/07/17)---Newton's third law of motion states: "what goes up must come down".
Concordia proved Newton correct on Saturday as their shooting touch came back down against Hamline after soaring on Wednesday at St. John's.
The Cobbers shot only 20.0% (4-for-22) from outside the arc against the Pipers, were held to a season-low 53 points and lost 68-53. All this after shooting 52.4% from 3-point range and scoring in the mid 70's against the Johnnies.
The loss is only the second in the last sixth games for Concordia. CC is now 6-5 overall and 3-3 in league play. Hamline wins for the third straight game and fifth in the last six games and is now 8-4 overall and 5-2 in the MIAC. HU is tied for second in the conference standings.
Concordia got behind early and could never recover. Hamline scored on its first five possessions and led 11-6 after only 3:20 gone in the first half. CC would never lead after that point but did get to within three points at 15-12.
The Cobbers trailed by six points at 27-21 with 5:59 left in the opening period of play but then Hamline broke the game open with an 8-0 run and took a 15-point lead at 39-24 into the break.
The second half was more of the same. Concordia made several attempts at getting the deficit into single digits but each time the Pipers would score on the next possession and keep the big lead.
The biggest statistical advantage in the game came from turnovers. Concordia had a pedestrian 15 miscues but Hamline only turned the ball over three times for the entire 40 minutes of play. The Pipers turned that advantage into a 26-15 edge in points off of turnovers.
The three turnovers by the Pipers ties for the fewest by a Concordia opponent this season and fewest since before the 1999-00 season. It is the fewest miscues by Hamline this season and least since before 2000.
Concordia, who had five players with eight or more points vs. St. John's, had two players with more than four points against Hamline. Big man Austin Heins led all players with 18 points. He was 9-for-12 from the field and also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Austin Nelson was held scoreless in the first half but then went 2-for-4 from outside the arc in the second half and finished with 11 points.
The Cobbers shot 38.6% (22-for-57) from the floor as opposed to 46.0% (29-for-63) for the Pipers.
YOU CAN'T SPELL SCORING WITHOUT AN "I", AN "N" OR AN "S": Junior Austin Heins has found his scoring touch since after the Christmas holiday. Heins has scored at least 13 points in four straight games and during that stretch he leads the team in scoring with a 17.0 ppg average.
The four-game stretch has pushed Heins' season average to 11.0 ppg. He is one of three CC players who average in double figures this season.
NOT SO NIFTY 50'S: The 53 points scored by the Cobbers on Saturday is a season low. It is the first time they have scored under 69 points all year long. The 53 points is all the fewest since the end of the 2014-15 campaign.
WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will to jump start their offense when they return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The Cobbers will host Carleton at 7:45 in the start of a stretch of five out of six home games. The Knights are 4-7 overall and 1-5 in the MIAC and took defending national champion St. Thomas to overtime on Saturday.