BISMARCK, N.D. - Trailing the NSIC Tournament field (top-8) by one game with three to play, Concordia University (11-13, 8-12 NSIC) embarked on a road trip to the Dakota's this weekend playing must-win basketball the rest of the way. They were successful tonight,picking up a convincing 90-76 win at the University of Mary (6-18, 5-15 NSIC) at McDowell Activity Center. Senior guard Kenny Olafeso (St. Paul, Minn.), the nation's seventh ranked shooter at 63.1% entering play, made 12-15 from the floor and finished with a career-high 28 points while distributing 7 assists and collecting 6 rebounds to lead Concordia.
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Concordia got some help around the league as well. Eighth-place Northern State (12-12, 8-12), ahead of Concordia by a full game entering play for the final league playoff spot, fell to new NSIC-leader St. Cloud State in Aberdeen, S.D. in overtime setting up a tie between Concordia and Northern State for the eighth spot in the standings.

The two teams go head-to-head tomorrow night at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D. at 8:00 p.m. Concordia has never won in 15 trips to Wachs Arena in the series history.

While the game is crucial for both teams, it is not a clinching game for a conference tournament bid as each team has one game remaining after tomorrow. Next Saturday, Concordia must play on the road at league-leader St. Cloud State while Northern State travels to U-Mary on the same night.

Reaching the NSIC Tournament is vital for each team as the league tournament champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament which consists of the Central Regional between eight total teams from the Northern Sun and Rocky Mountain conferences. After each league's automatic bid, there are six at-large spots which Concordia and Northern State will not qualify for based on their season ledger.

Tonight, the Golden Bears buried 14-of-27 from three-point territory on the road as they sent U-Mary to a 1-10 record on their home floor in an environment that had long been considered one of the top home court advantages in the conference.

Concordia never trailed in the game and led by as many as 23 midway through the second half. The Marauders cut the deficit to 10 points but there were under 90 seconds remaining as their late rally came too late in the contest.

Five players reached double-figures for the Golden Bears as Kenny's twin brother, Peter Olafeso (St. Paul, Minn.) added 19 points and seven rebounds. Junior forward Isaiah Thomas (Fridley, Minn.) poured in four more three-pointers and scored 16 points. Thomas has now converted 14 three-pointers in the last three games for Concordia.

Freshmen Terez Van Pelt (Osseo, Minn.) and Cole Olstad (Elgin, Minn.) also excelled for the Golden Bears. Van Pelt started and scored 12 points with five rebounds and five assists while Olstad came off the bench with 13 points on three three-pointers.

The Marauders were led by 22 points by Damon Smith, who also collected nine rebounds. Jalen Jaspers added 13 for U-Mary.

Concordia's 14 three-pointers tie their season high which was set in the second game of the year against Sioux Falls. That was also the only other time Concordia scored 90-plus points this year. They improve to 9-2 when scoring 80-plus points and 10-4 when holding the opposition under 80. They are also 10-1 when leading at the half with a perfect 8-0 mark when carrying an 8-plus point lead into the break.

Concordia used a strong early run to take a commanding 20-8 lead seven minutes into play before U-Mary responded with a 12-2 spurt to get back in the game.

But the Golden Bears would not allow U-Mary to tie or claim the lead the rest of the way. After getting the lead back to nine for halftime, Concordia turned it back on in the second half.

They outscored U-Mary 30-16 in the first 10 minutes of the second half to mount a 23-point lead, their largest of the game and the deficit remained in double-digits until the final buzzer.

After tonight's performance, K.Olafeso is now shooting 64.2% from the floor on the year - up nearly a full percent after the 12-15 shooting effort which ranks second in the league this season, just 0.6% behind the league lead.