Game Summary vs. Concordia / GameDay Online

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Through the first 20 minutes Wednesday evening, the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team was good.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Concordia was better.

And, as good as SMU was in the first half, they were even better in the second half.

So were the Cobbers.

Concordia raced out to a 10-point, 40-30 halftime advantage, then matched the Cardinals point-for-point — and then some — over the game's final 20 minutes in handing SMU a 77-64 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

“I thought we played pretty well, we just have to get bigger — their post kid (John Fraase) was just too much for us tonight,” said SMU coach Todd Landrum. “We just didn't have an answer for him. Give Concordia credit, they did a great job of getting that ball inside, and (Fraase) took it from there.”

Fraase scored a game-high 31 points for the Cobbers, including a 15-for-20 effort from the free throw line. Cody Dyshaw pitched in 12 points and Johnathon Molina tallied 10 for Concordia, which won for the third time in its last four games in moving to 7-12 in conference play and 9-14 overall.

Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) scored a team-high 18 points, knocking down 8 of 18 field goals, for the Cardinals, while Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line en route to his 14 points for SMU, which fell to 5-14 in the MIAC and 6-17 overall.
 
Depsite shooting 36 percent from the field in the opening half, the Cardinals found themselves staring at a 10-point, 40-30 deficit heading into the locker room at the break.

And the Cobbers weren't about to let SMU to cut into that lead.

Concordia held a 60-50 advantage with 10 minutes remaining in regulation, maintained that 10-point edge, 62-52, with seven minutes left, and held a 68-58 lead two minutes later.

That's when the Cobbers pulled away, pushing their lead to 16, 77-61, with a 9-3 run that ice the victory.

“We stayed aggressive and battled to the end,” said Landrum, whose Cardinals close out their season at home Saturday, playing host to Augsburg in a 3 p.m. conference game at the SMU Gym. “We had our chances to cut into the (second-half) gap, we just couldn't come up with that clutch shot.

“It wasn't for the lack of effort, our guys gave it everything they had.”