MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Concordia-St. Paul (3-2) had its three game winning streak come to a close with a 64-59 loss at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (3-4) on Saturday afternoon at Panther Arena. Junior guard Cole Olstad (Elgin, Minn.) scored a game-high 19 points for the Division II Golden Bears while Steve McWhorter led the Division I Panthers with 17 points.

The Golden Bears are now 0-2 on the year when allowing an opponent to score 60 or more points as the Panthers scored a season-high 64 points against Concordia, whose defense surrenders just 57.0 points per game on 31.9 percent season shooting. Concordia held UWM to just 31.3 percent (15-48) on its home court, keeping its streak of holding opponents under 40 percent intact for the year.

Concordia used an early 14-0 run spanning nearly four minutes of action to take an 18-7 lead over Milwaukee with 11:27 to play in the first half with Olstad converting a layup for five early points. In building the early lead, seven different players scored with Olstad being the only one to score twice.

Terez VanPelt, Olstad, Nuni Omot and James Healy all buried consecutive three-pointers during the spurt while Josh Monroy, Shea Mandli and Olstad each scored in the lane.  Concordia's first six field goals were assisted, with VanPelt finding open teammates three times in the first eight and a half minutes of play.

VanPelt would facilitate well in the game, dishing six assists to just one turnover while playing all 40 minutes, adding nine points.

Once Concordia took its first lead of the game at 10-7 with 13:57 to play in the opening stanza, it would hold the lead for the rest of the first half although UWM trimmed the margin to just two, 26-24 at the break.

Concordia held the host Panthers to just 23.1 percent (6-26) shooting in the half while converting slightly better on the offensive end at 31.0 percent (9-29), but hit five three-pointers in 10 attempts to hold the lead.

More importantly, Concordia held one of the top players in the Horizon League, McWhorter, to just three points in the first half.

Milwaukee came out strong in the second half, as JJ Panoske buried a three-pointer 24 seconds in to give Milwaukee its first lead since the 13:57 mark of the first half. The Panthers would bury their first five three-pointers of the second half.

Olstad answered with a layup on the other end, for his 14th points of the night but McWhorter got going on the next possession, putting UWM back on top with a layup and the Panthers would never trail again.

Milwaukee pushed the lead up to six, its largest lead at that point in the contest at 41-35 with 13:35 to play as McWhorter drilled a three-pointer for his eighth point of the half.

Concordia stormed back, using five straight points as Healy setup Mike Yahnke for a jumper before knocking down a three-pointer off a Keith Crockett pass to tie the game at 44 with 8:50 remaining. Healy and Crockett each scored eight points with Crockett adding three assists and Healy with two. Crockett also led Concordia with six rebounds. Yahnke had six points and five rebounds.

The Panthers would then go on an 8-0 run with six points by McWhorter over the next two-plus minutes to take its largest lead of the contest at 52-44. McWhorter was at 17 points after sparking the run.

Six straight points by the Golden Bears, including four in a row by Olstad put the game back within reach at 52-50 with just under five minutes left before another five point stretch by Milwaukee put the margin back to seven before Concordia had a possession with a chance to tie or take the lead.

The theme of the second half was Concordia continuing to fight back as Milwaukee wasn't able to push the margin higher than seven the rest of the way. Five more unanswered points by Concordia along with shutout defense for two minutes of play from the 3:43 to 1:46 mark gave the squad new life with another two point deficit, 57-55 with 2:21 left.

But for the second time in a row, a missed Panther shot was rebounded by UWM with Concordia fouling to put the Panthers on the line where they converted 26-of-31 attempts (83.9%) for the night.

Milwaukee's free throw shooting wasn't the only culprit in the loss as Concordia made just 7-of-17 (41.2%) for the game.

Concordia would have one possession in the final seven minutes of play with a chance to tie or take the lead, at 62-59 when Olstad picked up a steal from JR Lyle but missed the layup with 10 seconds to play that would've trimmed the margin back to one.

Overall, Concordia held the lead for 14:50 of play on the home floor of a Division I mid-major opponent coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance a year ago and four postseason appearances over the last nine years. Concordia also held the larger lead (11) than Milwaukee (8) on the night. The game featured two ties and four lead changes while remaining close throughout.

Once again, Concordia did not allow the opposition to shoot 40 percent from the floor, holding the Panthers to 31.3 percent (15-48) shooting for the game and converted at a higher rate offensively at 37.3 percent (22-59). Each team also converted eight three-pointers, at a 40 percent or better rate.

However, for the first time this year, the Golden Bears were out-rebounded 41-38 while UWM held a 13-7 edge in second chance points despite Concordia grabbing two more offensive rebounds (13-to-11). Cody Wichmann was Milwaukee's top rebounder with 11, adding 13 points for the double-double.

Concordia also executed better inside with 24 points in the paint to UWM's 12, and took care of the ball better with eight turnovers while forcing 10.

The Golden Bears return home on Tuesday, November 22 for the final non-conference tune-up against North Central University at 7 p.m. The team remains at home next Friday and Saturday as Northern Sun play begins against Wayne State and Augustana at Gangelhoff Center.