MOORHEAD, Minn. – The shorthanded St. Olaf College men's basketball team was defeated 97-59 on the road by Concordia-Moorhead in its second-to-last game of the regular season on Wednesday night at Memorial Auditorium.

Playing without its top-two scorers due to injury, St. Olaf (9-15, 8-11 MIAC) suffered its largest loss of the season with the 38-point defeat to Concordia (15-9, 11-8 MIAC). The loss, coupled with a win by Saint John's University over Bethel University, set up a win-and-in matchup for the Oles and Royals in the regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon.

Without senior Connor Martin and sophomore Kobe Kirk, who averaged a combined 35.9 points per game to account for 50.5 percent of St. Olaf's scoring this season, the Oles shot just 31.6 percent (18-for-57) from the field in the loss. Junior Addison Metcalf and first year Jachin Mertes tied for the team lead with 12 points, while fifth-year senior Josh Albers finished with 10 points and a team-high five rebounds.

Rowan Nelson led all scorers with 28 points on 10-for-11 shooting for Concordia, going 4-for-5 from three-point range and 4-for-7 from the free-throw line in the win. Jacob Cook and Matt Johnson added 13 points apiece, while Zach Jackson was 4-for-5 from behind the arc off the bench to score 12 points for the Cobbers. Concordia, which was just 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) from three-point range in the earlier meeting between the two teams, went 16-for-37 (43.2 percent) from long distance on the night and shot 54.7 percent (35-for-64) overall.

Nelson and Cook combined to score Concordia's first 14 points of the game to lead the hosts to a 14-4 lead over the first 3:19. The duo accounted for 22 of the Cobbers' first 28 points of the game and posted 29 first-half points as Concordia led by as many as 23 in the opening half. The Cobbers shot 19-for-32 (59.4 percent) from the field and had just three turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Mertes had 10 of his 12 points in the opening half.

Concordia cooled off slightly in the second half but still shot an even 50.0 percent (16-for-32) from the field and knocked down 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) of its three-point attempts. Twelve Cobbers scored in the second half, while Metcalf, Albers, and junior Jaylen Hannah had seven points apiece after the break.

St. Olaf looks to clinch a playoff spot when it hosts Bethel University on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. on Senior Day. The Oles are a game behind the Royals in the MIAC standings but won the first meeting in Arden Hills, meaning St. Olaf would hold the tiebreaker for the No. 6 seed with a win on Saturday.