End-Game Kick Produces Win At The Wire

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/12/25)---If Concordia's season opener was a 400-meter race, the Cobbers would have waited until the final 25 meters to outkick Minn.-Morris and come away with the win.

Since it was a basketball game, Concordia waited until the final minute with the score tied at 74-74 and went on a 5-0 run to claim the 5-point victory at the finish line.

Neither team had more than a 4-point lead in the second half but then Concordia went on an 8-0 run to grab a 6-point lead with 6-minutes left in the game.

Morris responded with a 7-2 streak of their own to bring the game to within a single point with 3:26, which eventually led to the 74-74 tie score and then the 5-0 stretch by CC in the final minute of play.

There were five tie scores and eight lead changes in the first game of 2025 for the Cobbers. CC's biggest lead was the 6-point margin in the second half, while the Cougars held a 10-point advantage at 21-11 midway through the first half.

Concordia shot 39.3% (24-for-61) for the game and made four fewer field goals than Morris but the Cobbers drained four more 3-pointers and shot 37.9% (11-for-29) from outside the arc. The double-digit 3-point total is a good sign for Concordia as they had six games last year where they made at least 10 shots from distance.

Senior Jacob Cook led the way for the Cobbers. He went 7-for-13 from the floor, 3-for-5 from 3-point range and finished with a team-high 22 points. He has scored at least 20 points in six games in the past season plus one game. Cook also collected 10 rebounds to record his 14th career double-double.

Jackson Loge also had a big game for Concordia as he came away with a career-high 17 rebounds and added nine points. Loge came away with five offensive rebounds.

Peyton Belka started his senior season by going 4-for-9 from outside the arc and finished with 18 points. He also had a team-high five assists.

First-year guard Payton Schell went for 16 points in his college debut. He was 5-for-13 from the field and drained a pair of shots from distance.

Fellow first-year guard Alex Franson hit the game-winning shot on his only made basket of the night when he drained a 3-pointer from the right corner on a feed from Cook with 44-seconds left to play.

Concordia will stay at home for their second game of the season. They will host Wis.-River Falls on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m.   

Cook Counter
Jacob Cook now has 812 career points and 459 rebounds in his career. The 459 rebounds are seventh on the school's all-time rebound list. He passed Soren Nelson (458) in the opener and now has his sights on former teammate Rowan Nelson, who is sixth on the list with 463 boards. John Fraase is the school's all-time rebounding leader with 807.