When #14 st. Cloud state defeated concordia university 72-57 on dec. 13, they were 9-0 and ranked #8 in the nation. However, the golden bears handed the huskies their third loss in four games since that meeting, a 61-57 victory on sunday afternoon at the gangelhoff center.

sophomore forward craig heiman(marshall, wis.), pictured left, rejected david dreas' attempt at a game-winning three-pointer in the corner with 1.7 seconds to play and senior guard jason birr (burnsville, minn.) hit a pair of free throws to make it a two possession game with under two seconds to play.

concordia improves to 8-4 with the win while st. Cloud state falls to 10-3. The golden bears dominated the paint with a 48-22 scoring advantage down low to spur the victory, also adding a 16-8 edge in second chance scoring.

st. Cloud state led for most of a closely contested first half until a lay-up by junior guard matt cadwell (st. Paul, minn.), pictured right, gave concordia a 29-27 advantage with 2:38 remaining. There were five ties and just the one lead change in the opening half.

cadwell finished with a team-high 14 points on 7-15 shooting despite 0-5 three-point shooting.

fittingly, the huskies knotted the score at 29 at the break.

concordia reclaimed the lead with another cadwell lay-up to start the second half.

after scsu's dusty wabiszewski drilled a three, concordia answered when heiman answered with a three of his own.

heiman, pictured left, scored nine points and had seven rebounds and three steals despite scoring just two in the first half.

from there, neither team would lead by more than two and their were six ties in the final 17:03.

with 3:12 to play, dreas delivered a three-pointer after hitting a pair of free throws to score five unanswered points by himself for st. Cloud state, giving the huskies a 55-53 lead.

dreas scored 19 on 6-17 shooting for st. Cloud state while grabbing six rebounds. He also converted 4-5 at the line.

concordia responded with the next four points on jumpers by cadwell and sophomore guard mike cunningham (minneapolis, minn.), pictured right, to get back on top, 57-55 with 2:02 to play.

cunningham joined cadwell as the only other golden bear in double-figures with 10 points, also adding five assists and five steals, shooting 5-8 from the floor.

dreas hit two more free throws to tie the score with 1:40 left, but on the ensuing possession, heiman rebounded and tipped-in cunningham's missed jumper to give concordia the lead for good, 59-57 with 1:10 to play.

st. Cloud state missed four three-pointers in final 70 seconds.

the huskies were led by matt schneck's 25 points on 9-12 shooting. He was 7-10 at the line and had six rebounds. Dusty wabiszewski had 10 assists, eight coming in the first half on 12 scsu field goals.

the golden bear defense stifled st. Cloud state in the second half, forcing the huskies to shoot just 39.1% (9-23) in the final 20 minutes while concordia was efficient, hitting 56.0% (14-25) from the floor.

for the game, concordia shot 50.9% (28-55) while scsu was 40.4% (21-52).

neither team was effective from three-point range, with scsu hitting 25.0% (4-16) to concordia's 14.3% (2-14). Concordia also struggled at the line, hitting just 33.3% (3-9) while scsu hit 73.3% (11-15).

after a messy first half with 25 total turnovers between the two teams (cu 13, scsu 12), the teams settled down, each finishing with 18 for the game. Concordia did hold a 20-13 edge in points off turnovers.

the golden bears return to northern sun play on jan. 4-5 when they travel to take on #24 northern state in aberdeen, s.d. Before heading north to take on u-mary in bismarck, n.d.

box score - cu 61, st. Cloud state 57