james metcalf on the fastbreak (photo by whitney pitra)

concordia university (7-1) extended their winning streak to four games with a 73-64 victory over macalester college (2-5) despite struggling for much of the first half against an aggressive attack by the scots.

macalester was hot early, sprinting out to a 17-6 lead and extending it to a 12 point deficit on two occasions early in the half. Trailing 31-21 with 5:10 to play in the first half, the bears responded decisively with a 12-0 run to take their first lead, 33-31 before mac finally scored again with 47 seconds to play in the half to tie the score heading into the locker room.

during the run, seniors drew shepp andjoey peel each had two layups while senior cortez forte and freshman guard mike cunningham each added buckets for cu.

in the second half, concordia surrendered the lead back to macalester as the scots scored the first five points out of the break.

after trading baskets, the bears trailed by one, 40-39 when forte's jumper put cu ahead for good as the bears went on a 11-0 scoring run spanning just under six minutes, giving them a 50-40 lead with 11:40 remaining.

macalester wouldn't come any closer than seven points back as the bears cruised to the victory down the stretch.

marlon walker at the free throw line (photo by whitney pitra)

it was a balanced scoring effort as three players reached double-figures for concordia, led by senior marlon walker's 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals, two blocks and an assist. Freshman craig heiman added 12 points on 5-7 shooting (2-3 3-pt. Fg) off the bench and shepp poured in 10 points and four rebounds in just 16 minutes (5-8 fg).

three others had eight points (peel, forte, kyle marxhausen) while cunningham scored seven off the bench and junior chuol chany added five with four rebounds. Cunningham also contributed three assists, three rebounds and two steals.

joey peel on the drive (photo by whitney pitra)

peel, who has shown explosive scoring runs through the early part of the season, did his damage elsewhere this evening as he had a game-high six assists and five steals. He was 4-6 from the field in 31 minutes and was a key factor in forcing mac point guard abe woldeslassie to eight turnovers.

the golden bears struggled from the field early on but shot 59.3% (16-27) in the second half and finished the game at 49.2% (30-61). The cu defense racked up 15 steals, forcing 23 mac turnovers.

craig heiman finished 5-7 from the field and 2-3 from three- point range

in the paint, cu was more effective with a 38-20 edge while outrebounding the scots 39-35.

under first year head coach kelly boe, the golden bears have developed a reputation for a balanced offense and a deep bench and tonight was no exception as used a 26-4 advantage off the bench to help outlast mac. Nine players played at least 14 minutes and nine players scored with 11 players seeing action.

the golden bears put their four game win streak on the line this saturday, december 16 when they host wisconsin-river falls at 7:00 p.m.