ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (6-13, 3-12 NSIC) held on for a 66-65 victory over Minot State (7-12, 3-12 NSIC) on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center. Sophomore forward Shea Mandli (Eagan, Minn.) blocked Minot State's Nathan Mertens as time wound down to preserve the one point win.



The game featured 11 ties and 14 lead changes and neither team led by more than six points. The largest lead in the second half was just four points, with both teams able to grab the four point edge at different points in the final period.

Despite the razor thin margin and back-and-forth type of affair, it was Concordia that held the upper hand down the stretch. Mandli scored on a jumper in the paint with 8:14 to play to give Concordia a 57-56 lead and Minot would never lead again. Mandli finished with six points and seven rebounds off the bench, adding a pair of blocked shots.

A three-pointer by junior Travon Mitchell with 5:53 to play extended Concordia's lead to four, 62-58 as Concordia looked to close the game strong. Mitchell led Concordia's bench with 16 points as the Golden Bear reserves outscored Minot's 22-0.

Minot State scored the next four points, holding Concordia scoreless for nearly two and a half minutes when junior Terez VanPelt converted a pair of free throws. VanPelt scored 15 points on the night.

The Minot State defensive clamp continued as the Golden Bears went without a field goal until 2:08 to play when senior Cordell Smith scored on a layup set up by sophomore Mike Yahnke.  The field goal drought spanned 3:45 of play.

Only one point would be scored the rest of the way, with Minot's Chris East hitting the first of two free throws with 1:37 to play. But he'd miss two more free throws with 46 seconds left for a chance to tie or take the lead.

With 19 and 13 seconds left, Concordia missed a pair of open three-pointers but the strong offensive rebounding of Smith kept the initial possession alive to drain more time off the clock.

Smith finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds with six of the rebounds coming on the offensive glass which were all in the second half.

The offensive rebounding by Smith was a theme for the Golden Bears as the squad bruised their way for 20 offensive rebounds compared to 14 for the Beavers. Mandli added four offensive boards while Yahnke and Chris Halvorsen each had three.

In addition to the offensive rebounding and bench scoring, Concordia also had a 16-4 advantage in points off turnovers as they forced 11 and only committed eight.

The strong peripheral numbers helped offset a poor 6-30 (.200) three-point shooting night for the home team. Minot State only countered with 28.6% (4-14) three-point shooting, however.

The Golden Bears continue the second of a four game homestand tomorrow, hosting the University of Mary at 6 p.m.