ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (1-2) picked up its first win of the year late on Saturday night, defeating the 15th-ranked Division III program, St. Olaf by a final of 73-63 at Gangelhoff Center in the home opener. The Golden Bears connected on eight of 11 first half three-pointers (72.7 percent) to pull away from the visitors.

The game tipped after 9 p.m. and was the fifth event of the day following a pair of NSIC Volleyball Tournament contests and a pair of women's basketball Radisson Hotel Minneapolis St. Paul North Classic games. The contest concluded after 10:40 p.m. with a Golden Bears 10-point win.

Senior Cole Olstad led the team with 20 points on 6-10 shooting including 3-4 three-point shooting and 5-6 free throw shooting. He also had seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

He scored 17 of his points in the first half to help Concordia build a 42-30 halfitme lead en route to a 20-point second half margin.


CU Men's Basketball vs. St. Olaf 11.21.2015 - Images by Justin Oakman

The game was tight throughout the early going, as St. Olaf and Concordia were tied at 13 approaching the halfway mark of the first half when David Stanley buried a three-pointer that would give Concordia a lead it would not relinquish.

Two possessions later, an Olstad three-pointer sparked a 10-2 spurt to push the lead to double-digits for the first time at 27-17 with 6:39 to play.

Concordia only let the Oles cut the margin into single-digits three more times the rest of the night, keeping it at least seven for the duration.

The Golden Bears defense was consistent throughout, holding St. Olaf to 34.5 percent (10-29) first half shooting and 39.1 percent (9-23) in the second half. St. Olaf also attempted 27 three-pointers, connecting on just eight (29.6 percent).

Concordia was solid in the first half offensively, shooting 53.8 percent (14-26) including the strong long range shooting. For the night, the Golden Bears connected on 10 three-pointers for a 50 percent rate and shot 45.1 percent (23-51) from the field.

The Golden Bears also bruised the Oles inside on the glass with a 39-30 rebounding margin as Shea Mandli led the team with eight followed by Olstad and Bryndan Matthews with seven each. Matthews added 10 points to lead a Concordia bench that outscored St. Olaf 29-11 on the night.

St. Olaf was led by Riley Aeikens with game-highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds and Justin Pahl added 16 points although the club will not count the contest towards its regular season totals.

Concordia returns home next Saturday night for a 7 p.m. tip against Peru State (Neb.).