BAYAMON, P.R. – The Concordia Golden Bears men's basketball team (0-1) dropped their season opener in heart-breaking fashion as they fell to UPR Bayamon (1-0) 64-63 on Friday night.
Concordia connected on an efficient 52.3% (23-44) from the floor, including 65.0% (13-20) in the first half, but were unable to overcome 28 turnovers and a mark of 44.4% (12-17) from the free throw line in the loss. The Vaqueros finished with a 22-15 edge in points off of turnovers while their bench outscored CSP 29-13 on the night.
The Golden Bears had three players finish in double figures scoring as
Bryndan Matthews led the way 14 and a game-high 10 boards to pick up the double-double. Matthews hit 5-9 from the floor and 3-5 from the free throw line to go along with three steals in the game.
Ted Brown and
Diallo Powell followed close behind with 11 points apiece as Brown added six rebounds and Powell chipped in four. Brown got his collegiate career off to a solid start as he shot 5-10 from the floor while Powell was even more efficient, knocking down 4-6 and 2-4 from three-point range.
Ahmad Newsome led all players with 10 assist to go along with six points and five boards and
Carter Brooks added eight points, four assists and two rebounds in their CSP debuts.
Leading the way for UPR Bayamon was Nathaniel Martinez, who knocked down 8-15 shooting and 5-10 from beyond the arc to lead all scorers with 21 points. He was joined in double figures by Christian Negron, who added 10 points.
Concordia got to a fast start with a 5-0 run, all by
Ted Brown, as the big man got his career off to a solid start. Brown added a pair of dunks over the next few minutes as the lead remained five at 12-7 with nine of the 12 points coming from him. The Vaqueros answered back with a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the night at 13-12 before extending it all the way out to six at 20-14 at the 12:37 mark with a 13-2 run in total. The Golden Beats pulled back within two at 20-18 before another UPR Bayamon 9-2 burst gave them their largest lead of the game at 29-20 with just over six minutes left in the half.
With the UPRB lead still at nine at 31-22 with 4:16 left in the half, Concordia used their first prolonged run of the game as they grabbed 10 straight, five from Powell and five from
OC Omoregie to regain the lead at 32-21. A pair of last second free throws put the Vaqueros back in front as the teams went into the break with a score of 33-32.
Brown's nine early points led the way in the half while Brooks contributed seven of his eight in the opening 20 minutes.
After an early bucket for UPRB to open the second half, the Golden Bears embarked on a 12-2 run to build their largest lead of the game at44-37 with 14:36 to go. That lead would be short-lived, however, as the next nine points went to UPR Bayamon as they regained the lead at 46-44. CSP went back out front just past the midway point of the half and they held the lead for nearly five minutes before UPRB went ahead 56-55.
After a cold stretch for both teams, a flurry of threes sparked a dramatic ending to the night. Newsome buried a huge three to put CSP up 59-58 with 1:40 to play before Martinez answered with a three of his own to take the lead back 22 seconds later.
Diallo Powell nailed another three to make it 62-61, but Jesus Marquez answered that three to give the Vaqueros a 64-62 lead with 38 seconds left. The Golden Bears had chances to tie or take the lead as they missed a layup and knocked down 1-4 from the free throw line but still had a chance in the closing seconds with the ball under the basket off a missed free throw that bounced off a UPRB player and went out of bounds with four seconds left.
Matt Ambriz launched a desperation three at the buzzer, but had it blockes as UPR Bayamon held on for the 64-63 win.
Concordia will look to get into the win column tomorrow afternoon as they take on UPR Rio Piedras at noon. Follow along at cspbears.com/livembb.
