Last-Second Defensive Stand

STORY LINE: Concordia's last-second defensive stand helped the Cobbers hold on to a 66-65 victory over Macalester in Moorhead. The CC defense stymied the Scots on the final possession of the game and snapped its 7-game losing streak. Concordia led 66-62 in the final minute of play and then earned the win with a stifling defense in the seconds of play.

RECORDS: Concordia earns its first conference win of the season and moves to 1-4 in league play. The Cobbers are now 2-8 in all games. Macalester continues to look for its first league win and is now 3-8 overall and 0-6 in the MIAC.

DAVIS DOWN THE STRETCH: Senior Jordan Davis made the final three field goals for the Cobbers and came away with eight of the final 10 points for CC. He hit a 3-pointer to give Concordia a 59-54 lead and then hit another clutch long-range shot that put the Cobbers up 62-54 with 4-minutes to play. His final field goal proved to be the game winner. He made a jump shot with just under 1-minute to play to put CC up 66-62.

MOMENT THAT MATTERED: One of the turning points in the game came with 2:32 left in the second half. A Macalester player made a field goal to cut the Concordia lead to 62-59. He was then whistled for a technical foul which was his elimination foul. Collin Larson then stepped to the line and converted both free throws to push the lead back to five points.

NERD STAT: The game featured a combined 131 points but only thee were scored by non-starters. The two teams starting 10 players accounted for 128 of the 131 points in the game.

BLOCK PARTY: Junior John Reiten continued his inside defensive presence. He was one of the leaders of the Cobber defense down the stretch. He had three blocks in the game and has had at least three blocks in three of the past four games. Reiten leads the team with 18 blocks this season which is tied for the lead in the MIAC.  

A LITTLE OUTSIDE, A LITTLE INSIDE: Sophomore point guard Bryden Urie led the Cobbers in scoring with 20 points. He did his damage by driving to get inside and also by stepping back to hit the 3-point shot. Urie finished the game 4-for-8 from outside the arc and added eight points from inside the paint. It is his second 20-point game of the season and he has now scored at least 12 points in five of the past six games.

MAKING THEM COUNT: Jordan Davis made both of his shots from outside the arc and finished with 18 points. He also added a team-high five rebounds.

DIME TIME: Tommy Schyma led all players with seven assists. He has had at least four dimes in six games this season and in three of the past five contests.

UP NEXT: Concordia will have a pair of tough road games in the next five days. The Cobbers will play at St. Olaf on Saturday, Jan. 5 and then travel to Collegeville to take on No.19-ranked St. John's on Monday, Jan. 7.