If you were to tell Carleton head coach Guy Kalland his team would hold Concordia under 60 points, shoot 49 percent from the field and out-rebound the Cobbers, he would probably say they would win. Carleton did all of that against a very physical Cobber team, but they couldn't shuck the Cobbers' tenacious defense in a very physical game in Moorhead, Minn., on Wednesday. They lost 58-48.

The Knights had a four-point lead with a chance to go for the last shot in the first half and turned the possession over on a inbounds pass, only to see Concordia hit a desperate buzzer beater from about the volleyball attack line on their end of the floor. Carleton led 26-25 at the half. The maroon-and-gold-clad Cobbers started the second half with the same vise-grip defense and tallied 25 points off Carleton's 16 turnovers while turning the ball over just six times. Assistant Carleton coach Ryan Kershaw told KDHL after the loss that Concordia is definitely one of the best defensive teams in the league.

The Knights were led by senior Shane McSparron of Apple Valley, Minn., with 15 points. He was the only Knight in double figures. Freshman Kevin Grow of Circle Pines, Minn., collected 10 rebounds, seven points and three blocks. After shooting 57 percent in the first half, Carleton managed just 39 percent in the second half. Concordia was led by reigning MIAC player of the week Jordan Bolger of Apple Valley with 18 points, Brandon Giese of Zimmerman, Minn., had 12 and Brady Syverson of Fargo, N.D., had 11. Senior post Scott Flotterud of Zumbrota, Minn., had a fast-break dunk in the game and finished with six points and three rebounds in 16 minutes.

Carleton's record is now 4-6 in the league and 7-8 overall and Concordia is 9-6 overall and 5-5 in the MIAC. The Knights travel to Macalester on Saturday. Coverage on KDHL begins about 2:45 p.m. I thought it was interesting that Concordia hid some power cords under Carleton maize and blue colors. I wonder if they use visiting team colors for every game.

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