mankato, minn. - after leading for the first 25-plus minutes of the game, concordia university (11-12, 9-7 nsic) didn't have an answer for the #17 minnesota state university, mankato (21-5, 12-4 nsic) counter-punch as the mavericks used a 16-1 run midway through the second half to steal the momentum, and the victory in an 80-74 decision at taylor center in front of over 1,400 fans. Junior forward craig heiman (marshall, wis.) led five cu players in double-figures with 24 points on the night. box score

concordia started hot, scoring the first eight points out of the gate with three-pointers by senior guard matt cadwell (st. Paul, minn.) and sophomore forward matt hackl (seymour, wis.) following two cadwell free throws. That built cu's largest lead of the game just over two minutes into play.

but concordia went cold, scoring just two points over the next four-plus minutes but the defense held strong and concordia still maintained a 10-9 lead as hackl's second of three first half three-pointers gave the golden bears a 13-9 advantage with 13:01 to play in the half.

on msu's ensuing offensive possession, junior forward thomas bassett (denison, iowa) swatted a harry boyce shot attempt with junior mike cunningham (minneapolis, minn.) making an acrobatic save on the sideline in front of the press table, throwing ball behind his head down court hitting cadwell in stride.

cadwell took the pass and evaded (below) multiple maverick defenders for the layup to give concordia a six point edge.

hackl buried four three's in the game and finished with 12 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes.

cadwell played a game-high 37 minutes, finishing with 10 points, hitting two of three from long range.

from there, the mavericks would score eight of the next 10 points to force the games first tie at 17. Concordia didn't have an answer early for msu center travis nelson, who had eight of msu's first 17 points, including multiple dunks and put backs on the offensive glass.

a minute later, heiman delivered his first of a trio of three-pointers, giving cu the lead back. Msu tied the score once more before the break at 23 and concordia built a 36-30 lead just before the break before a jesse clark jumper sent the game into half at 36-32 with cu leading.

at the break, nelson had 14 points and six rebounds on 6-7 shooting to lead all players. Aside from nelson, msu struggled as the rest of the squad shot 7-26 in the first half including 1-8 from behind the arc. Cu, meanwhile, built their early edge in the game behind 13-27 shooting from the floor and strong 6-11 three-point gunning. The only thing that kept msu close was their dominance on the glass, pulling down an 8-1 advantage on the offensive boards leading to a 9-0 edge in second chance scoring.

in the second half, hackl's fourth trey gave concordia a seven point lead, 43-36 just over two and a half minutes in. But msu clawed back again on the backs of their bigs as mitch gosson converted a pair of buckets followed by another nelson score.

a pair of heiman lay-ins rebuilt the lead to five, 47-42 with 14:39 remaining and concordia looking to grind out their first road win in mankato in school history.

the mavericks had other plans and finally made their move. Fighting for an nsic title and attempting to prove they are better than their seventh ranking in the ncaa central region, they stormed to a 16-1 run to take their first lead of the game and the game's first double-digit lead, a 58-48 advantage with just under nine minutes to play. Cunningham finally snapped the run with a jumper and finished the game with 10 points.

msu's scoring leader, jake morrow, who scored seven points during the 16-1 run, drained another three-pointer to answer. He finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Concordia had frustrated morrow in their first meeting, holding him under 10 points. The cu defense did a stellar job on morrow once again, holding him to 6-18 shooting and forcing him into eight turnovers in the game despite the solid final point/rebound numbers.

msu led by as many as 13 down the stretch and concordia didn't come closer than eight points down until sophomore trevor bartelt drained a three-pointer as the clock neared zero.

nelson was the story for minnesota state with 22 points and nine rebounds along with a pair of blocks. He was 9-14 shooting. His front court mate gosson was a perfect 7-7 from the floor, had 15 points and 13 rebounds and three rejections. Clark had seven points and seven assists.

for concordia, heiman shot 10-20 from the floor and collected a team-high nine rebounds while dishing three assists.

junior guard sammy ricks (st. Paul, minn.) delivered 12 points on 5-8 shooting while dishing a team-high four assists and collecting a game-high five steals to extend his grip on the northern sun steal lead.

concordia made 11 three-pointers and shot 77.8% from the stripe but only earned nine trips while the mavericks were 18-26 at the line.

msu held a decisive edge on the glass with a 49-29 rebounding lead including 20-6 on the offensive boards leading to a 19-6 margin of second chance points.

the game saw only three ties and the games only lead change occurred during the 16-1 maverick run.

concordia falls a game below .500 overall but remains a strong 9-7 in league play and must face northern sun leader southwest minnesota state tomorrow evening in marshall, minn. Tonight the mustangs cruised by st. Cloud state at the r/a facility.