ST. PAUL, Minn. - Senior guard Keith Crockett drove from the left wing and finished with a right handed layup with 3.1 seconds left to break a tie score for a 59-57 win for Concordia-St. Paul (8-5, 4-3 NSIC) over St. Cloud State (7-7, 3-5 NSIC) on Saturday night at Gangelhoff Center.

The Huskies were met with heavy pressure in the closing seconds as Jordan Poydras attempted a contested 35-footer at the buzzer that was off the mark. Concordia held Poydras to 4-15 shooting including 3-8 from deep as he had 11 points and was bottled up for six turnovers.

The win moves Concordia to 7-1 in eight home games under first year head coach Joey James and gives the Golden Bears a three game winning streak for the second time this season and first time in NSIC play. Concordia returns to the road next weekend at #18 Augustana and Wayne State on Friday and Saturday to start a four game road stretch.

Junior Cole Olstad led Concordia in scoring with 12 points including 5-5 free throw shooting.

The Golden Bears compensated for a rough shooting evening (31.6 percent, 19-60) by forcing 14 turnovers while committing only six leading to a 13-7 margin in points off turnovers. Five different Golden Bears accounted for the team's seven steals while SCSU had just two steals. Concordia senior guard Terez VanPelt had a 7-to-1 assist-turnover ratio on the evening, scoring 11 points on 3-6 three-point shooting in 37 minutes. He was 6-9 from three on the weekend while helping run an offense that committed 5.5 turnovers per game in the two victories.

Both teams were able to crash the offensive glass as Concordia had 16 offensive rebounds to SCSU's 15, but the Golden Bears were more efficient with second chances with a 16-11 margin. Concordia's bench also out-performed SCSU with a 19-5 bench scoring advantage. Junior forward Shea Mandli was instrumental in both aspects with 10 points and eight rebounds including six offensive boards in 19 minutes off the bench. He was 3-4 from the field and 4-4 from the line.

Concordia's defense was consistent, holding SCSU to 38.7 (12-31) and 38.1 (8-21) percent shooting in the first and second halves, respectively for a 38.5 percent game total (20-52).

The Huskies controlled play early with a strong inside defense that prevented Concordia's three guard offense from attacking the basket. Concordia shot 20.0 percent (6-30) in the opening half but were able to keep the game close, trailing by just six (29-23) at the break. SCSU led for 18:24 of the first 20 minutes and Concordia's only lead was at 2-0 for a 19 second duration.

In the second half, SCSU pushed the lead to nine, the largest of the night for either side just four minutes into play (39-30).

Concordia stormed back, going on a 17-3 run capped by an Olstad three-pointer with 9:09 to play for a 47-42 Concordia lead. The Golden Bears canned three three-pointers during the runbut it was inside where Mandli began to take over with a tip-in on an alley-oop, a layup and two free throws.

An SCSU three-pointer broke up the run before James Healy dropped in a pair of three-pointers and Mandli added a layup for an 8-2 spurt that gave Concordia its largest lead at 55-47 with 5:32 left to play.

Scottie Stone put up a 6-0 run on his own for the Huskies in the final three minutes, hitting a three-pointer and grabbing an offensive rebound in the paint with a put-back and a foul to tie the score at 57 with 33 seconds left when Crockett finished 30 seconds later for the game-winner.

Stone led St. Cloud State with 18 points including three three-pointers and 6-12 shooting.