BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Concordia-St. Paul (0-2) held the early lead over defending NCAA Division II champion, sixth-ranked Western Washington (4-0) on the road before eventually falling  80-76 on Friday night in a late result on the West Coast.

The Golden Bears trailed by as many as 14 points with 16:08 to play but made a strong second half run and held the lead late in the game, 72-70 with just over two minutes to play before the defending champions executed in the final minutes to defend their home floor.

Concordia sophomore Cole Olstad (Elgin, Minn.) hit three three-pointers in the first four minutes as the Golden Bears opened up an early 14-7 lead. He finished the night with 12 points, adding six rebounds and five assists.

Concordia hit 10-of-20 from long range in the game and held WWU to an 8-to-16 assist-to-turnover ratio on their home floor at Carver Gym at the 12th Chuck Randall Thanksgiving Classic.

Western Washington made their run at nearing the midway point of the first half, a 19-3 surge to take a 33-22 lead with 5:36 to play in the opening period. The prolonged run spanned five minutes of play.

Concordia came back strong as sophomore Terez VanPelt (Osseo, Minn.) scored five straight-points during a 9-0 run to bring it back to a two-point margin, 35-33 with 2:47 to play in the half. VanPelt finished with a game-high with 23 points on the evening, shooting 8-of-15 including 2-of-2 from long range. He also added six assists and two steals.

But WWU closed the half by matching with a 9-0 run of their own to put their lead back to double-digits at 11, 44-33 at the break. Concordia was successful in keeping WWU leading scorer Paul Jones off the scoreboard for nearly 18 minutes to start the game, and he finished with just seven points on 3-of-5 shooting in 26 minutes.

Concordia wouldn't let the Vikings pull away as the teams played within a margin that fluctuated between nine and 14 for the first 11-plus minutes of the second half.

Then Concordia made their move, and it was a prolonged comeback run after trailing by 11 (62-51) with just over 11 minutes to play.

An Isaiah Thomas (Fridley, Minn.) three-pointer with around 8:50 to play cut the WWU lead to seven, 62-55. Thomas finished with 19 points, knocking down 5-of-9 three-pointers. A few possessions later, a VanPelt three-pointer cut the margin down to six, 66-60 with 7:17 to play, and he'd knock down a pair of free throws with six minutes left to make it a four point margin.

The run continued with three-pointers by Thomas on both sides of the five-minute mark to make it a two-point game, 70-68 with just under four and a half minutes to play.

While VanPelt, Olstad and Thomas were sparking the run from behind the arc, senior center Nick Mabbutt (Milton Keynes, UK) got things going inside on both ends. With just over four minutes to play, Mabbutt drew a charge and would convert back-to-back layups to give the Golden Bears a 72-70 lead with 2:32 to play.

The British big man would foul out down the stretch, but finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks, assists and steals in an impactful 27 minutes.

Western Washington's Rico Wilkins countered with a three-pointer on the next possession after Concordia claimed their first lead since the first half. The three gave WWU a one-point edge with just over two minutes to play, and Mabbutt's layup rimmed-out on the other end giving possession back to the Vikings.

WWU hit the first of two free throws, and missed the second but the rebound was out of bounds off Concordia giving extra possession to the Vikings. On the possession, WWU was able to run the clock down to 1:02 before Olstad forced a turnover by Cameron Severson – a 30-second difference.

VanPelt quickly converted a jumper in the lane to tie the score before Mabbutt finally fouled out with 37 seconds left as WWU's Severson hit both free throws for a 76-74 WWU lead.

On Concordia's ensuing possession, VanPelt drove the lane but was stripped on the dribble-drive with 17 seconds left and the Vikings made their final four free throws, converting 6-of-6 at the line in the final minute collectively, to seal the win.

VanPelt had 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as he shot 6-of-8 after the break. Thomas scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half including 4-of-4 second half three-point shooting while Olstad dished out four second half assists as the Vikings clamped down on him defensively. All three players didn't leave the floor in the final period.

In Concordia's second half comeback attempt, they forced 10 turnovers while committing just three, and shot 57.1% (16-28) from the floor while holding WWU to 48.0% (12-25). Concordia also made 5-of-8 from downtown while WWU was just 3-of-9.

But John Allen was the go-to-guy for Western Washington with 15 second half points and 20 for the game.

Concordia was out-rebounded 39-31 for the game which featured five ties and three lead changes. Shea Mandli (Eagan, Minn.) led the Golden Bears with seven rebounds.

The Golden Bears remain in Bellingham for at the Chuck Randall Classic tomorrow they face Alaska-Fairbanks at 5 p.m. central time.