ST. PAUL, Minn. - Junior Cordell Smith (Mequon, Wis.) hit the game-winning three-pointer with 4.4 seconds to lift Concordia-St. Paul (7-15, 5-13 NSIC) to an 85-84 win over Bemidji State (12-10, 10-8) on Saturday evening at Gangelhoff Center. Smith finished with career-highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds in his first career double-double to lead Concordia.

Bemidji State's Dermaine Cockrell took the inbounds pass at three-quarters court and dribbled up to the left wing, missing a well defended three-pointer at the buzzer, with his shot rimming out.

The Golden Bears have been hot as of late, winning three straight and four of their last six games. They are 5-3 over the last four weekends since an 0-10 start in conference play as well.

Smith was outstanding all-around, shooting 8-of-11 from the floor and knocking down 5-of-7 from three-point range. He also was the only player in the game with more than seven rebounds as three of his 10 boards were on the offensive glass.

Adding three-point punch of the bench for Concordia was senior forward Isaiah Thomas (Fridley, Minn.), hitting his first seven shots from the floor with six being from behind the arc. Thomas finished 7-of-9 overall for 22 points in 25 minutes.

Concordia had to climb out of a 13-point second half deficit with 15:05 to play, and an 11-point margin with 11:36 to play in the contest. Despite the double-digit margins, the game featured 12 ties and 15 lead changes in a thrilling Northern Sun contest. Bemidji State came in hot, having defeatd #5 Minnesota in Taylor Center in Mankato just one night ago.

The Bears clawed back into the game down the stretch with a strong perimeter game as the team finished 12-of-21 (.571) from distance on the night. It started with a three-pointer by Thomas at the 11:21 mark to get the margin in single digits. He added another three at the nine minute mark to cut the margin to four, 73-69. It was the first time the margin had been cut to four since the opening minutes of the second half.

Smith's three-pointer with just over seven and a half minutes to play cut the gap to one point, and sophomore Terez VanPelt (Osseo, Minn.) converted a layup  to put Concordia ahead 76-75 with 5:35 left.

That was the first of five lead changes in the last five and a half minutes of play.

VanPelt was clutch down the stretch as well, adding back-to-back buckets with Concordia trailing by three to give the team an 80-79 lead with three minutes remaining. He also had five assists in the last nine minutes, finishing with seven. He also had 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting along with three steals.

BSU answered with a three-pointer by Mason Walters on the left wing, and Maxie Rosenbloom gave BSU a four point lead with a layup with just over a minute left.

With 45 seconds to play and trailing by four, Concordia went inside to senior big man Nick Mabbutt (Milton Keynes, UK) for a jumper in the lane on a nice turnaround post move set up by VanPelt.

The Golden Bear defense picked up a steal as sophomore DJ Lewis (New Orleans) picked Cockrell as he made a move just outside the top of the key with under 15 seconds left. Lewis was solid in his second straight start with seven assists and no turnovers.

Concordia didn't call timeout, with VanPelt leading the charge up the court. Facing waves of defenders, VanPelt dished 10 feet outside the left wing to Smith, who took a dribble just outside the arc and elevated for the game-winner.

Adding a fourth player in double-figures for Concordia, sophmore Cole Olstad (Elgin, Minn.) finished with 10 points in the game, while Mabbutt added eight off the bench in the post on 3-of-4 shooting in 18 minutes.

Bemidji State was led by Walters with 26 points, hitting 10-of-14 from the floor while leading all scorers in the game. Rosenbloom had 14 points and six rebounds off the bench while shooting 7-of-9. Bemidji State had five players in double-figures for the game.

The Golden Bears were outstanding shooting on the night, hitting 56.4% (31-55) from the field to go with the strong three-point shooting. The nation's second ranked free throw shooting team continued the excellence, hitting 91.7% (11-12) from the stripe. Bemidji State was also solid, hitting 50.8% (30-59) from the field and 85.0% (17-20) from the line. But they missed a key front-end of a 1-and-1 late in the game that kept Concordia alive with under two minutes to play.

The Beavers also dominated the glass, 34-20 including a 16-6 edge on the offensive end to mitigate Concordia's shooting advantage. It lead to a 19-9 margin in second chance scoring, and a 46-26 deficit in the paint.

Concordia returns to the road next weekend with a trip to #12 Winona State on Friday night before a Saturday evening game at Upper Iowa. Both games featured 8 p.m. tips.