Minnesota, crookston (2-5, 1-1 nsic) held off a late concordia (6-2, 1-1 nsic) rally to win 78-67 nsic saturday night in nsic action at the gangelhoff center.

concordia scored the first two points of the game on a lay-up by junior matt cadwell (st. Paul, mn) but minnesota, crookston countered with a three point field goal at 18:22 of the first half and would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.

the eagles led by as many points as 14 in the first half and took a 40-27 lead into the lockerroom. Senior chuol chany (des moines, ia) and sophomore craig heiman (marshall, wi) each scored ten points to lead the bears in the first half.

minnesota, crookston began the second half outscoring the bears 11-2 over the first four minutes to take a 51-31 lead with 16:03 to play and extended it to 22 at 13:35 (55-33).

the bears then got a lay-up by cadwell and a pair of of three point field goals by heiman, followed by a lay-up by james metcalf (killeen, tx) to cut the lead to 57-44 with 9:35 left in game.

chany finished the night with ten points on 5-13 from the field, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

minnesota, crookston would extend the lead back to 20 at 67-47 with 5:18 to play and concordia would go on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 10 at 69-59 with 2:31 to play. But that would be as close as they would get.

the bears were led by heiman with 19 points on 7-19 from the field, but only 3-11 from beyond the arc. He was also 2-2 from the free throw line in 34 minutes.

metcalf scored ten points on 5-7 shooting and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds in 24 minutes. He added four assists, two blocks and a steal.

on the night, concordia shot 28-70 (40.0%) from the field, but only 4-20 (20.0%) from three point range. They finished 7-11 (63.6%) from the free throw line.

minnesota crookston was led by bryce cummings with 14 points, while delano robinson and joey kollar each added 13. Aaaron smith had 11 to round out those in double-figures.

the golden eagles shot 27-5 (51.9%) from the floor, including 7-13 (53.8%) from three point range and 17-24 (70.8%) from the free throw line.

minnesota crookston outrebounded the bears 39-35 and committed 23 turnovers, compared to 19 for concordia.

concordia will return to nsic action tomorrow night as they host bemidji state at 8:00 in the gangelhoff center.

box score - minn. Crookston 78, cu 67