MOORHEAD- Concordia’s men’s basketball team capped off their regular season last Saturday February 22 at home in a matchup against Carleton.
The first half went very poorly for the Cobbers as they shot a lousy 23.1% from the field and 0% from beyond the arc.
With only 4:25 left in the half, the Cobbers found themselves behind 30-15. Despite this they only found themselves trailing by seven heading into the second half.
“We couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean in the first half and it takes a really tough team to win when you don’t make shots,” said head coach of the team Tyler Bormann.
Despite the shooting woes of the first half, the Cobbers found their offensive rhythm in the second half shooting 51.6% from the field and 38.5% from deep. After coming back from as many as 15 points down the Cobbers found themselves in a tie ball game with less than a minute left to play.
With 15 seconds left in the game Concordia junior Peyton Belka hit a clutch baseline jumper as the shot clock expired to put the Cobbers up by two. Concordia only needed one more stop to ice the game but Carleton senior Luke Harris made a tough layup around two defenders, sending the game to overtime.
The overtime period was thoroughly controlled by Concordia as they outscored Carleton 16-7 en route to a 82-73 victory.
The victory over Carleton capped off an impressive month of February for the team where they went 5-2 and secured a MIAC playoff berth.
“We’ve gotten better as the year has gone on; that’s kinda been a hallmark of our program… at the end of the year it doesn’t really matter what you did in November and December as long as you’re in a position to make a run,” said coach Bormann.
The game was also a good example of what happens when the team plays well in key areas. Concordia outrebounded Carleton 31 to 28 and committed eight fewer turnovers, both of which Bormann identified as important indicators of team success.
“We have to take care of the ball, we have to rebound at a really high level. When we out rebound and have fewer turnovers than the other team we’re 6-0 this year… at tournament time it’s even more important,” said Bormann.
The MIAC tournament will run from Feb. 25 until March 1 and the Cobbers will face off in the first round against the number three seed, Hamline. Potential good news for the Cobbers is that they beat Hamline earlier this season 69-63. However, that game was at home and this time around the team will be on the road in enemy territory.
“When you’re on the road you have to control the controllables… there’s a lot of things that can go wrong that you can’t control,” said Bormann.
Anything can happen in the playoffs, and the Cobbers will be trying their best to make a run and keep their season going.
“We get a chance to be 0-0 and go in on Tuesday and see if we can play our best basketball at the right time,” said Bormann.
