MANKATO, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (15-9, 11-7 NSIC) wasn't able to keep pace with Minnesota State (19-5, 14-4 NSIC) in a 93-80 loss on Tuesday night at Taylor Center.

Concordia returns to Gangelhoff Center this Friday and Saturday for its final two home games of the regular season. The Golden Bears host Upper Iowa (14-10, 10-8 NSIC) on Friday (8 p.m.) and Winona State (11-11, 8-10 NSIC) on Saturday (6 p.m.) for senior night.

Minnesota State led by as many as 15 in the first half before the visiting Golden Bears went on a three-point shooting spree to cut the margin to eight at the break.

Concordia outscored MSU 26-16 from just under the five minute of the first half to the 18:24 mark of the second half to make it 53-49. During the run, Concordia went 9-9 from the floor and 6-6 from three-point range as Nuni Omot poured in 10 of his 17 points. Keith Crockett added six of his career-high 21 points as did Cole Olstad who finished with 14.

Crockett shot 8-12 from the floor and hit all three of his three-pointers. Olstad and Omot each delivered a pair of three-pointers, with Olstad leading the team with six rebounds.

On their way to trimming the lead to four, Concordia once again put top-NSIC post player Assem Marei in foul trouble as he picked up his third foul early in the second half (18:24) and went to the bench for the next 10 minutes of the second half with 15 points. He finished the night with just 18 minutes, but was efficient in his time with 15 points on 6-7 shooting.

In Concordia's win in St. Paul in December, Marei drew his second foul early in the first half and didn't return to the floor until the second before finishing the night with 17 points in 24 minutes.

But Minnesota State's three-point shooting reigned superior throughout the evening as the Mavericks made 50 percent (14-28) from long range. Concordia's three-point shooting was also excellent, matching MSU's 50 percent (7-14).

Concordia was outstanding offensively, shooting 56.6 percent (30-53) from the floor on the night. But Minnesota State became the first team to shoot 50 percent against Concordia's nationally ranked defense as the Mavericks finished at 56.9 percent (33-58).

With both offenses clicking from the floor and three-point range, the big advantage in the contest came down to MSU's rebounding. The Mavericks out-rebounded Concordia 28-22 including 10-6 on the offensive glass with a 10-5 margin in second chance scoring. The margins were more pronounced until the final minutes. Concordia's first offensive rebound came on a put-back by Josh Monroy with just under nine minutes left.

Monroy had another quality performance while matched up with one of the top posts in the league. He finished with six points on 3-5 shooting in 20 minutes of play, adding a blocked shot. Shea Mandli contributed 10 points on 5-7 shooting in 15 minutes off the bench.

The Mavericks were led by Zach Monaghan's 25 points as he poured in 19 in the first half. He also had nine assists to just one turnover and a pair of steals while running the Maverick offense at high efficiency. He was 9-15 from the floor despite just 2-7 three-point shooting.

He led five Mavericks with at least 14 points as TJ Lake and Mike Busack each dropped in four three-pointers to finish with 15 and 14 points, respectively while Connor Miller contributed 14 points with seven rebounds and five assists.