PHOTO GALLERY (by Jarrin Williams - coming soon!)

ST. PAUL, Minn. - For the first time this season, the Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (2-10, 0-8 NSIC) couldn't keep the final margin to 10 points or less in a 79-64 loss to MSU Moorhead (13-1, 7-1) on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center.

Concordia opened up an early 7-0 lead, extending it to as large as eight points in the first four-plus minutes at 12-4. Four different players scored during the strong start for the Golden Bears including a pair of three-pointers by senior Isaiah Thomas (Fridley, Minn.). Thomas would hit one more three the rest of the night and finish with nine points.

The early lead continued for Concordia despite MSUM starting to chip away at it. A jumper by sophomore Terez VanPelt (Osseo, Minn.) made it 15-8 nearly six minutes into play. He finished with 20 points and five assists on the night, playing 39 minutes.

The Dragons countered with an 8-2 run to take their first lead of the game (18-17, 11:54) in what was part of a larger run that took the game over.

After the 15-8 Golden Bear lead, MSUM went on a prolonged 26-7 run that covered over eight minutes of play and the Dragons never looked back.

MSU Moorhead went into halftime leading 36-28 despite 11 first half points from VanPelt. The first half featured all three lead changes in the contest, while there were no ties all night.

The Golden Bears chipped away at the once 12-point lead early in the second half, and a tip-in by freshman Shea Mandli (Eagan, Minn.) cut the margin to just five, 47-42, with 12:23 to play. Mandli finished with seven points and five rebounds in 28 minutes.

But on the next possession, MSU Moorhead's Jordan Riewer delivered a three-pointer for the Dragons and Concordia was never closer than eight the rest of the way, with MSUM pushing its lead as large as 16 points late in the contest.

MSU Moorhead made 12 three-pointers for the night, including seven in the second half and made 44.4% from long range on the evening (12-27). The Dragons also won on the boards with a 45-34 margin including 17-12 on the offensive end.

The two teams played clean offensively, combining for just 16 total turnovers with MSUM committing seven.

Concordia redshirt freshman Mike Yahnke (Delano, Minn.) added 12 points and five rebounds in 31 minutes - all career-highs.

Sophomore Cole Olstad (Elgin, Minn.) had six points nad five rebounds to tie Mandli and Yahnke for the club lead on the glass. Olstad also drew the assignment of defending the NSIC's scoring leader, Anthony Tucker, who finished with 29 points and seven rebounds with three assists. Olstad and his teammates did hold him to 9-of-21 shooting and three turnovers, but Tucker delivered five three-pointers and was perfect in six trips to the stripe.

The Golden Bears look to rebound tomorrow evening when they host Northern State for a scheduled 6 p.m. tip-off.