PHOTO GALLERY (Jarrin Williams) | PHOTO GALLERY (Dave Madsen)

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-4, 0-2 NSIC) nearly erased an 11-point deficit with just over 11 minutes to play before falling short 77-71 in a Northern Sun contest against Upper Iowa (4-2, 2-0 NSIC) on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center.

A three-point play by Terez VanPelt (Osseo, Minn.) brought Concordia within a point, 71-70 with 1:19 remaining but the Golden Bears never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead in its comeback attempt as Bo Pagel delivered a three-pointer on UIU's ensuing possession with 56 seconds remaining.

VanPelt led Concordia with 21 points and five assists in 35 minutes of play. He shot 8-of-15 from the floor. Isaiah Thomas (Fridley, Minn.) contributed a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds while connecting on four three-pointers. He played in 38 of 40 minutes.

The game featured six ties and four lead changes - with all but one tie coming in a closely played first half. At the end of the half, Upper Iowa went on a 10-0 run to go from down five points to up five points at the break (35-30). The Peacocks didn't trail the rest of the way.

Upper Iowa was led off the bench by Jake Shonka in the post with 23 points and nine rebounds, making 9-of-11 from the floor as Peacock leading scorer Tucker Weintzein battled through foul trouble and played just 13 minutes all night.

Shonka and the Peacock bench outscored Concordia's 41-17 and the Peacocks rumbled their way to a 36-26 advantage in the paint despite Concordia using a 23-10 margin in second chance scoring off of a 19-8 edge on the offensive glass.

Joey Woods added eight assists and seven points for UIU.

Concordia returns to the floor tomorrow night hosting #18 Winona State at 6 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center