Concordia university (8-5, 2-2 nsic) pulled the deficit to four points twice in the second half but couldn't get any closer as #24 northern state (13-1, 4-1 nsic) defeated the golden bears 71-64 at wachs arena in aberdeen, s.d.

concordia trailed for much of the first half until a three-pointer by freshman matt hackl (seymour, wis.) gave the golden bears their first lead, 17-16, at the 6:35 mark.

hackl's three-pointer was one of nine hit by the golden bears, many of the long range buckets helped spark runs that fell short. Concordia shot 47.4% (9-19) from behind the arc.

junior guard matt cadwell (st. Paul, minn.) scored five points in the final :43 to give the golden bears a 28-24 halftime lead. He finished the game with 13 points on 4-5 shooting.

that lead evaporated quickly as the wolves come out and scored the first seven points in the first 1:59 of the second half to reclaim the lead 31-28.

the golden bears trailed by as much as 11, 49-38, with 12:23 to play but back-to-back three-pointers by james metcalf (sr., g, killeen, texas) and craig heiman (so., f, marshall, wis.) cut the gap to five.

metcalf scored 12, shooting 4-8 from the floor and 3-5 from long range while heiman led the golden bears with 17 points and hit four three-pointers in 11 attempts. He pulled down a team-high seven rebounds as well.

after a lay-up by dan dewitt, heiman delivered another three-pointer to etch the deficit to four, 51-47 with 9:03 remaining.

but the wolves worked the lead back to nine, 57-48, just a few minutes later.

but heiman drilled another three-pointer that followed a lay-up by senior center chuol chany (des moines, iowa) to bring the game back within four once again, 57-53 with 5:27 to play. Chany finished with 10 points and four rebounds off the bench.

kevin ratzsch had the answer for the wolves, connecting on a three-pointer to once again snap concordia's mini-run. Ratzsch finished with a game-high 19 points to lead the wolves.

concordia didn't get closer than six the rest of the way as the home team converted their free throws, hitting 83.3% (20-24) as a team.

the golden bears, meanwhile, struggled at the line, hitting just 61.1% (11-18).

concordia looks to get back in the win column tomorrow evening when they travel north to take on the university of mary at 8 p.m. In bismarck, n.d. Cu has lost three of their last four games.

box score - northern state 71, cu 64