Concordia university (16-11, 5-9 nsic) dropped a heart-breaking 63-60 contest on the road at bemidji state (14-12, 9-5 nsic) on sunday afternoon at bsu gymnasium. Junior guard kyle marxhausen's three-pointer misfired at the buzzer for the bears, who draw the #7 seed in the 2006 nsic red baron men's basketball classic.

senior forward ty thomas led concordia with a game-high 24 points along with eight rebounds and three steals while sophomore center drew shepp was the only other bear in double-figures with 10 points on perfect 5-5 field goal shooting.

thomas and shepp each fouled out in the final five seconds as concordia stayed alive by sending the beavers to the foul line, where they were just 2-6 in the last 17 seconds, giving concordia chances to stay in the game.

the bears trailed by as much as ten points in the first half, 32-22 with just over minutes to play, but fought back to cut the deficit to three points, 33-30 as the teams hit the locker room.

the second half was back and forth, with each team taking the lead five times to go with four ties. In a tight second half, the bears never led by more than three points and the beavers never led by more than four.

the bears outshot the beavers 43.9% (25-57) to 38.8% (19-49) but bemidji state outscored the bears 19-8 at the foul line and made six three-pointers to concordia's two.

the bears return to action on wednesday evening when they face the second-seed, #20 northern state at 8 p.m. In aberdeen, s.d. In the first round of the nsic red baron men's basketball classic.