marshall, minn. - it was a game that defied all odds in a gym that, to say the least, has been unlucky for the concordia men's basketball team. With just one previous win in series history over southwest minnesota state at the pe gym in marshall, minn., the golden bears (8-8, 5-4 nsic) claimed a huge 75-71 win on saturday night. Concordia not only overcame a stifling mustang (9-6, 4-5 nsic) defense, but absolutely shined in the game with a 50% field goal average. brent barz ripped up his previous career best scoring performance as he dominated the mustangs with 26 points, making it a double-double with a team high 10 rebounds. box score

barz's (f, so., johnston, iowa) presence in the game was unmistakable fom the tip-off through the final tense moments. He broke southwest minnesota state's 7-0 game-starting run with an offensive rebound and a put-back for cu's first hoop, then answered smsu's final push with concordia's last field goal of the game. Between those buckets, the 6-10 forward went 11-of-17 from the field.

the game could be described as a nail-biter to the fullest, tied 33-33 at the half and the score never separating more than 10 points. Concordia did an excellent job damping down the mustangs to a 35.1% field goal average in the first half and then showed their resiliance with a 59.3% second half shooting display.

amped up about their chances to finally break through with an overdue win in marshall, the golden bears took the largest lead of the game, 55-45 at the 11:39 mark of the second half with a nifty feed going from center dan vandervieren (f, jr., eden prairie, minn.) to forward thomas bassett (f, sr., denison, iowa) for the layup.

but the mustangs wouldn't give up without a fight, taking eight of the next nine points to bring it to a one-possession game, 56-53. Several barz buckets and a hit from downtown courtesy of andrew kuderer (g, jr., eden prairie, minn.) kept cu up by five points around the five minute mark, just before things got really heated up. The mustangs pushed the pace of the game and reached the free throw line where they tied things up 67-67 with 2:42 remaining and a nearly full house on its feet for the finale.

as time ticked down, both teams committed errors that could have given them the lead, but strong defense on both sides of the court put neither team at a disadvantage. That was, of course, until craig heiman (f, sr., marshall, wis.) put back a blocked shot for a 69-67 concordia lead at 1:23. An smsu turnover was further trouble for the home team, with kuderer popping off and hitting a three-pointer for a five-point advantage at just under the minute mark. Trading layups, including the final cu field goal from barz, kept concordia alive and ran down the clock just enough for the golden bears to finally walk out of the pe gym victoriously.

to find the last and only win for the golden bears at the pe gym in marshall, you have to go way back to 2004-05 when a buzzer-beater launch from long range downed smsu 74-72. The win is also highly important in the nsic standings, as cu now holds a position over the mustangs in the listing.

southwest's turnovers in the final two minutes of the game were the ultimate death spell for the mustangs. Smsu entered the game as the favorite in turnover margin, but the golden bears reversed the trend in this game. Cu turned the rock over just 11 times, while smsu committed 15 turnovers. The mustangs had only three steals in the decision, far below their 8+ average. The golden bears had 14 fast break points and scored three more points off of turnovers than the mustangs, good enough for the win.

the golden bears upended smsu with a 50% shooting night while limiting southwest to 40% shooting. Barz's 26 points put the spotlight on the young forward, while courtney tyler (g, jr., eagan, minn.) also came in strong during clutch moments, adding 11 points to the game. Barz was also the shining rebounder with his 10 nabs, with the next closest teammate garnering four.

the mustangs had to look in more places for their scoring as cu shut down all players from a breakout game. Taylor huseby led his squad with 14 points, while scott roehl had 11 and a team high eight boards.

the golden bears are on the road next weekend, traveling to the dakotas in continued nsic action against northern state and the university of mary.