ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (5-2, 1-0 NSIC) picked up a 72-59 victory in its NSIC opener over Wayne State (2-5, 0-2 NSIC) on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center. Senior guard Terez VanPelt scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and directed the offense with six assists and one turnover. Junior guard Cole Olstad scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the first half to help Concordia post a 39-27 halftime lead.

Concordia welcomes #11 Augustana tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. The Vikings suffered their first loss of the year, 81-67 at #13 Minnesota State tonight in Mankato.

VanPelt's guidance of the offense was key, as Concordia turned the ball over only seven times on the night. He played all 40 minutes and had three steals to help Concordia outscore Wayne State 20-9 off turnovers with Concordia forcing 13 total turnovers in the contest. Olstad also added five rebounds and three assists in the game and was perfect in seven trips to the foul line.


CU Men's BB vs. Wayne State 12.5.2014 - Images by Justin Oakman

Once again, Concordia held its opponent to under 40 percent shooting for the night as the Wildcats converted 38.8 percent (19-49) from the floor. They provided a test to Concordia's perimeter defense, knocking down nine three-pointers, but at just a 32.1 percent rate in 28 tries.

Four different Wildcats knocked down a pair of three-pointers, but it was Patrick Kurth inside with 15 points on 5-8 shooting who led the squad for the evening.

The Golden Bears also won the rebound margin handily once again, by a +7 final margin which is the closest margin they've had this season when out-rebounding an opponent. It was a team effort on the glass led by junior Mike Yahnke who had 13 points and six rebounds. Olstad, Josh Monroy and Nuni Omot each had five rebounds as well.

Omot once again led Concordia's bench effort with eight points on 3-5 shooting to go with his five rebounds.

Concordia also shot better from the foul line, hitting 75.0 percent while getting to the line 24 times compared to 19 attempts by the Wildcats, who shot 63.2 percent.

The game was close early with four ties and one lead change in the first 14-plus minutes of play. Concordia had the upper hand during the early minutes, holding the lead for much of the action pushing it as high as six while Wayne State's only lead was 2-0 on its opening possession.

Concordia broke the 23-23 tie with 5:20 to play in the half on a pair of free throws by senior Keith Crockett which opened up a 9-0 run in just 1:50 of play. Four different Golden Bears scored during the run.

The Golden Bears wouldn't relinquish the lead the rest of the night as they pushed it to as much as 14 points before going into the break up by 12, 39-27.

In the second half, Wayne State was able to trim the margin back to four, but never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead.