concordia university (9-5, 3-2 nsic) defeated the university of mary (4-10, 1-5 nsic) on saturday evening in bismarck, n.d. Senior guard james metcalf (killeen, texas) led the golden bears to victory, scoring 16 second half points before finishing with 21 points and nine rebounds.
in a first half that saw six ties and 10 lead changes, it was the marauders who carried the momentum into the break, leading 36-30 with u-mary's eric erdmann producing 12 points. Meanwhile the golden bears struggled, shooting just 33.3% (10-30) from the floor with no one scoring more than six.
u-mary extended the lead to eight, 40-32, with 18:22 to play.
the golden bears chipped away at the lead until a lay-up by freshman forward chris pfeifer (hopkins, minn.) put cu ahead 47-46 at the 12:29 mark. Pfeifer finished with eight points on the contest.
the marauders forced the game's seventh tie at 51 with 10:53 remaining but the golden bears pushed their lead back to eight, 62-54 five minutes later to take control.
they never relinquished the lead again as metcalf carried them to victory down the stretch.
concordia improved their shooting in a solid second half performance in which they outscored the marauders 44-32 behind 52.0% (13-25) shooting. They hit 3-4 from three-point range and 15-20 from the line in the final 20 minutes.
craig heiman (so., f, marshall, wis.) was the only other golden bear in double-figures with 13 points while matt cadwell (jr., g, st. Paul, minn.) finished with nine.
sophomore guard mike cunningham (minneapolis, minn.) had a well-rounded performance with eight points, five rebounds, six steals and four assists.
they finished the game shooting 41.8% (23-55) from the floor while the marauders shot 46.0% (23-50).
erdmann led u-mary with 16 points while geoff west had 14.
concordia out rebounded u-mary 39-27 including a 10-4 edge on the offensive glass.
the golden bears committed just 12 turnovers to u-mary's 19.
concordia returns to action next weekend, when they host upper iowa and #5 winona state on friday and saturday night, respectively, at 8 p.m. At the gangelhoff center.
box score - cu 74, u-mary 68
