kyle marxhausen scored 17 second-half points as the bears (20-6, 13-4 nsic) earned an 80-72 win over wayne state (14-12, 9-8 nsic) friday on the road. With the win, the bears set up a show-down with southwest minnesota state for a battle for the #2 spot in the nsic tournament as both teams are 13-4 in league games with one to play.

craig heiman led the bears in the first half with 11 points as the bears opened a 33-31 halftime lead, but marxhausen took over the second half, scoring 17 of 47 points for concordia on 4-8 shooting from the field and 9-11 from the free throw line. He finished the game with a team-high 19 points. He also had six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

heiman kept the bears in the game in the first half as the wildcats led by as many as nine in the first period. He finished the game with 18 points, making 7-10 from the field, including 3-6 from three point range and 1-2 from the free throw line.

wayne state outrebounded the bears 47-34, leading to a 23-7 advantage in second-chance points. Marxhausen and chuol chany each had six rebounds to lead concordia.

joey peel also scored in double-figures with 12 points and a team-high four steals as concordia had nine steals, compared to four for wayne state. jason birr had 11 as the only other bear to score in double-figures.

the bears shot 28-57 (.491) from the field, including 6-14 (.429) from three point range and 18-29 (.621) from the free throw line.

wayne state went 26-65 (.400) from the field and only 2-14 (.143) from beyond the arc and 18-29 (.621) from the free throw line. Matt rathje tied his career-high with 25 points and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds to lead the wildcats.

concordia will finish the regular-season at southwest minnesota state on saturday in a showdown of teams that are 13-4 and tied for second in the nsic.

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