SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (3-5, 0-4 NSIC) wasn't able to fully erase a 24-point second half deficit with over 16 minutes to play in a 79-70 loss to Augustana (6-4, 3-1 NSIC) on Friday night at Elmen Center.
The Golden Bears trailed 50-26 with 16:18 to play before a 20-4 run cut the margin to just eight, 54-46 with 7:42 to play.
But Augustana would answer with a pair of three-pointers to get the margin back to double-digits with just over five minutes to play.
Concordia made another run, trimming it back to eight points with 4:19 to play before six unanswered points by Augie put it back to 14 again.
The Golden Bears would get the margin back to six with 31 seconds to play and had the ball with a chance to cut into the gap even further in the final 20-plus seconds before Augie sealed the game.
Junior
Terez VanPelt led four scorers in double-figures for Concordia with 14 points, adding five assists, four rebounds and four assists.
Seniors
Cordell Smith and
Chris Halvorsen each had 13 points and six rebounds while junior
Keith Crockett had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Junior
Travon Mitchell scored nine points off the bench as well.
Augustana's Casey Schilling was tough to stop for the Golden Bears as he registered game-highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds with five steals and four assists to offset his seven turnovers.
Entering the night, Concordia led the league in offensive rebounding with nearly 15 per game but tonight they were doubled up on the offensive glass, 14-to-7.
Free throw shooting would also play a pivotal role in the outcome, with Concordia being out-scored by eight at the stripe as each team shot 32 free throws. Augie hit 27 to Concordia's 19.
After hitting just eight shots out of 26 attempts in the first half, Concordia made half of its 26 in the second half while burying 7-of-13 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes.
Augustana had similar increases, going from 9-for-31 to 13-for-27 between the two halves as the teams played to an even 44-44 tie in the second frame.
Concordia looks to rebound with a 6 p.m. tip tomorrow at Rice Auditorium against Wayne State in Wayne, Neb.
