MARSHALL, Minn. - Southwest Minnesota State (6-6, 3-2 NSIC) used a 15-2 run over a 3:45 stretch late in the second half to break a closely contested game. SMSU defeated Concordia-St. Paul (1-7, 0-5 NSIC) 96-86 at R/A Facility on Saturday evening.

The 10-point loss is the largest margin of defeat for the Golden Bears this season, and is a misleading margin as the game was close throughout including five lead changes and a pair of ties. The game's final lead change occurred with just under eight minutes left in the contest.

SMSU held the lead for much of the night when a three-pointer by Cordell Smith (Mequon, Wis.) with 8:53 to play put Concordia ahead 65-64. It was Concordia's first lead since the opening minutes when Concordia led 2-0 and 4-2.

From there, the teams traded baskets with SMSU's Matt Zager countering with a three-pointer and Cole Olstad (Elgin, Minn.) drilling a three for Concordia to put the Golden Bears ahead 68-67.

Olstad finished with a career-high 23 points and is now averaging 15.4 on the year.

But the Mustangs came back and scored again on their next possession and never trailed or allowed Concordia to tie the game in the final 7:46. Concordia would keep it close for the next three minutes, however, as Terez VanPelt (Osseo, Minn.) kept getting to the foul line down the stretch.

His pair of free throws with 5:50 to play cut the score to 73-72 but the Golden Bears would score just two points over a near-four minute stretch as SMSU pulled away.

VanPelt scored a career-high 28 points while converting 15-of-17 from the foul line. He also had seven assists and four steals. He is now averaging 20.1 points per game and has scored at least 13 points in every game this year including five games with at least 20-points. He's also averaging 4.0 assists per game.

As a team, Concordia went to the stripe 36 times and converted at an efficient 80.6% rate while SMSU was 22-of-29 (75.9%).

Concordia also committed just 10 turnovers a night after committing a season-high as a team, and forced SMSU to commit 16 miscues which led to a 26-12 advantage for the Golden Bears.

But despite the strong superlatives, Concordia couldn't overcome a large differential in shooting. SMSU was lights-out at 61.8% (34-55) including 6-of-10 from three-point range, while Concordia was held to 38.7% (24-62) shooting while making 9-of-22 from long range.

The Mustangs were led by Jordan Miller with 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists while forcing him to commit seven turnovers. He led five SMSU players in double-figures and led SMSU's rebounding effort as the Mustangs out-rebounded Concordia 38-27.

Concordia returns to the floor next week on Wednesday, December 19 with a 7 p.m. tip against Waldorf College at Gangelhoff Center. It's Concordia's final non-conference game of the year, and final game of the 2012 calendar year.