The Concordia-Moorhead Cobbers won the Merrill Thompson Tip-Off Classic championship with an 84-62 win over the host University of Wisconsin-Superior men's basketball team Sunday afternoon at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.
Brandon Giese had 17 points and Jordan Bolger added 11 points and nine rebounds as the Cobbers improved to 3-1 on the season. Concordia also got 12 points from Brady Syverson and 11 points from Jordan Bolger.
Jerrod Peterson led the Yellowjackets with 22 points and eight rebounds. Bronson Byrne added 20 points; Tilyn Hollis chipped in with six points and three assists; Brian Lindblom also had six points; and Aaron Corry added five points.
Concordia got off to a hot start by opening up a 7-0 lead. Corry got the Yellowjackets on the board with 16:44 left when he scored off a feed from Hollis.
The Cobbers gradually built a 34-10 lead with 8:03 remaining in the first half before the Yellowjackets made a late run, getting layups from Corry, Hollis, Peterson and three points from Byrne in the final 2:50 to come within 45-31 at the break.
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Three straight baskets from Byrne in the first 1:59 of the second half allowed UWS to trim the margin to 47-37 with 18:01 left in regulation.
But once again Concordia responded and never let UWS get within 10 points the rest of the game.
Concordia's defense forced 19 Yellowjacket turnovers and out-rebounded UWS 39-29.
UWS advanced to the championship game with an 86-46 win over Finlandia Saturday night. The Cobbers advanced with an 81-55 win over St. Scholastita.
Peterson also led the Yellowjackets in their win over Finlandia with 18 points, followed by Caleb Burch with 11.
Brandon Robinson led Finlandia with 11 points.
UWS took a 13-point lead into the second half and dominated Finlandia with a 55-28 advantage in the second half.
UWS opens WIAC play when it hosts UW-Stout at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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'JACKET JOTTINGS: Concordia defeated UWS 95-90 in overtime in last year's Tip-Off Classic. The Cobbers then lost to UW-River Falls 90-84 in OT. ... Wednesday's game with Stout will be broadcast live on 91.3 FM KUWS with Matt Johnson on the call. ... LaMonte Hall, Steve Golobich and Trevor Morlock scored 10 points apiece as St. Scholastica got its first victory of the season with a 74-55 win over Finlandia in the third-place game. Jake Naslund added nine points and three assists for the Saints (1-6). Dominic Morrow had 21 points and 16 rebounds for Finlandia (1-9).
Sunday's Championship game
CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD (3-1)
Brandon Giese 6-11 0-0 17; Brady Syverson 6-12 0-1 12; Jordan Bolger 5-7 1-2 11; Ryan Rude 5-11 1-1 11; Tom Fraase 3-9 2-2 9; Austin Hawkins 4-7 0-0 9; Matt Zimmerman 3-5 2-2 8; Jordan Deutsch 1-2 1-2 3; Corey Abbas 1-3 0-0 3; Brett Bergeson 0-4 1-2 1; Noah Kaczor 0-1 0-0 0; Matt Ellingson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-73 8-12 84.
UW-SUPERIOR (2-3)
Peterson, Jarrod 7-16 5-6 22; Byrne, Bronson 8-16 4-6 20; Lindblom, Brian 3-3 0-0 6; Hollis, Tilyn 2-5 2-2 6; Corry, Aaron 2-3 1-2 5; Lochner, Dan 1-1 0-0 2; Schradle, Zach 0-3 1-2 1; Mattison, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0; Burch, Caleb 0-1 0-0 0; Scott, Johnathan 0-0 0-0 0; Woods, Harrison 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-49 13-18 62.
Concordia-Moorhead 45-39--84
UW-Superior 31-31--62
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3-point goals--CM 8-22 (Giese 5-9; Fraase 1-4; Abbas 1-1; Hawkins 1-2; Zimmerman 0-1; Bergeson 0-3; Rude 0-1; Syverson 0-1), UWS 3-10 (Peterson, 3-7; Hollis, 0-2; Burch, 0-1). Fouled out--CM-Syverson, UWS-none. Rebounds--CM 39 (Bolger 9), UWS 29 (Peterson, 8). Assists--CM 15 (Rude 5), UWS 9 (Hollis, 3). Total fouls--CM 20, UWS 15. Technical fouls--CM-None, UWS-Peterson. Att.: 187.
Saturday's Game
FINLANDIA (1-7)
Brandon Robinson 2-9 6-7 11; Haven Price 2-11 2-5 7; Andrew Johnston 2-5 0-0 6; Darryl Brown 3-9 0-1 6; Dominic Morrow 2-3 2-3 6; Jonah Benoit 0-7 4-5 4; Matt Strong 1-5 0-0 3; Keith Arnold 1-8 0-0 2; Craig Raasio 0-3 1-2 1; Isaac Tucker 0-0 0-0 0; Nick Smith 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 13-64 15-23 46.
UW-SUPERIOR (2-2)
Peterson, Jarrod 8-13 0-1 18; Burch, Caleb 4-4 1-2 11; Lindblom, Brian 4-7 0-0 9; Scott, Johnathan 3-6 0-0 8; Schradle, Zach 3-5 2-4 8; Byrne, Bronson 4-11 0-2 8; Hollis, Tilyn 2-4 3-4 7; Corry, Aaron 3-9 0-0 6; Mattison, Taylor 1-2 2-2 4; Denny, John 0-3 3-4 3; Spezia, Anthony 0-0 2-2 2; Minnich, Cole 1-1 0-0 2; Aalfs, Alex 0-2 0-0 0; Hauer, Nick 0-1 0-0 0; Williams, Darius 0-0 0-0 0; Woods, Harrison 0-0 0-0 0; Berezutchi, Victor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-68 13-21 86.
Finlandia 18-28--46
UW-Superior 31-55--86
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3-point goals--Finlandia 5-25 (Johnston 2-5; Strong 1-3; Price 1-3; Robinson 1-4; Arnold 0-1; Raasio 0-3; Smith 0-3; Benoit 0-2; Brown 0-1), UWS 7-15 (Burch, 2-2; Scott, 2-3; Peterson, 2-3; Lindblom, 1-2; Corry, 0-1; Denny, 0-1; Hauer, 0-1; Hollis, 0-1; Schradle, 0-1). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Finlandia 43 (Price 8), UWS 52 (Corry, 12). Assists--Finlandia 4 (Benoit 2), UWS 14 (Woods, 3). Total fouls--Finlandia 19, UWS 21. Technical fouls--None. Att: 237.
