Concordia University dropped their first game of the season to a Northern Michigan squad that earned their first win of the year as the Wildcats defeated the Golden Bears 74-63 on Saturday evening at the Radisson St. Paul Concordia Thanksgiving Classic at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Three Golden Bears, seniors Ty Thomas and Kenneth Pointer along with junior Kyle Marxhausen, combined to score 53 of Concordia's 63 points in the loss. Thomas' 18 points led Concordia's scoring effort, with Pointer and Marxhausen each adding 17.

Marxhausen also missed his first double-double of the season by one rebound, as he snared nine boards, four on the offensive end. Thomas and Pointer each added five rebounds, while Pointer had five steals and Marxhausen had three. Thomas also had a pair of swats.

Junior point guard Joey Peel led the team with five assists and two steals in 25 minutes of action.

The Golden Bears were shut down by an aggressive Northern Michigan zone defense that held CU to 33.8% (22-65) from the field and 22.6% (7-31) from three-point range. Concordia didn't help their cause in the game, as they shot 66.7% (12-18) from the free-throw line.

Northern Michigan was able to convert on the offensive end, shooting 51.0% (26-51) from the field and 42.1% (8-19) from long range. The Wildcats were led by Ricky Volcy with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Marco Volcy contributed a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Will Washington was deadly from long range in the first half and finished the game with 13 points, hitting 3-5 from behind the arc.

The Golden Bears return to action Dec. 2-3 when they head to the CSU-Pueblo tournament. They take on Regis on Dec. 2 and CSU-Pueblo on Dec. 3.