Box Score ST. PAUL, Minn. - The 2012-13 Concordia men's basketball season opened up tonight at Gangelhoff Center with an alumni scrimmage with the Golden Bears defeating yesterday's greats 107-81 behind a 69.2% (27-of-39) second half shooting performance.
The game was tight early with four ties and six lead changes in the first half and the current Golden Bears taking a 41-40 lead into the break. The Alumni never led by more than 3-points on the entire night, though as they couldn't pull away from the younger Bears.
Concordia led by as many as nine over the Alumni in the first half but a 9-to-1 run closed it strong to keep the game close at the break.
A three-pointer by
Craig Heiman (2006-09) early in the second half put the Alumni ahead 48-47.
Mike Yahnke (Delano, Minn.) answered at the other end and the lead never changed hands again.
Concordia opened up from a 59-54 lead with 14:34 to play by using a 21-to-4 run over the next five and a half minutes to put the game away. The margin wouldn't be closer than 16 down the stretch after the run.
Cole Olstad (Elgin, Minn.) led Concordia with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting including three 3-pointers.
Isaiah Thomas (Fridley, Minn.) had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds and
Terez VanPelt (Osseo, Minn.) was solid all-around with 14 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals.
Six Golden Bears reached double-figures on the night including 12 points by
Zach Towle (Maplewood, Minn.) off the bench as he cashed in on four 3-pointers.
The Alumni were led by
Brian Jamros (2001-05) and
James Sarbacker (2003-07) who each poured in 19 points and knocked down five 3-pointers. Jamros was 7-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-6 from distance while Sarbacker was 5-of-9 from long range and didn't attempt anything inside the arc.
The Golden Bears won the war down low with a 50-31 rebound margin including 13-7 on the offensive glass, leading to a 44-18 edge in points in the paint (30-6 in the 2nd half) and 18-6 on the fastbreak.
The only dunk in the game came on a baseline two-handed slam by
Chris Hamblin (2009-11) for the Alumni.
The Alumni hoisted up 39 3-pointers, making 15 (38.5%) while the Golden Bears attempted 27 (12-27, 44.4%).
Concordia returns to exhibition play on Saturday, November 3 with a road tilt at St. John's. They have one more home exhibition tune-up against UW-River Falls on Friday, November 9 at 7 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center.
