MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (4-10, 1-6 NSIC) saw MSU Moorhead (11-3, 6-2 NSIC) pull away in the second half to grab a 74-60 win on New Year's Eve night.
The Dragons took the lead back late in the first half to build a small lead heading into the break before using a 42-31 advantage after the break to pull away.
Rebounding played a role for the second night in a row as the Dragons used a 33-27 edge on the glass (13-9 on the offensive glass) to hold a 15-6 edge in second chance points. MSUM also held an advantage in the turnover category as they forced 13 CSP turnovers while turning it over nine times themselves.
Shooting as nearly even on the night as Concordia hit 47.1% (24-51) from the floor and 30.8% (4-13) from deep while MSU Moorhead shot 47.3% (26-55) overall and 32.0% (8-25) from beyond the arc.
It was the big men for the Golden Bears that paced the squad offensively with both
Ted Brown and
Max Keefe finishing in double figures. Brown hit 5-8 from the floor and 6-9 from the free throw line to pick up 16 points with four boards in his 23 minutes of action.
Keefe finished in double figures for the fifth game in a row and the sixth time in his career with 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench.
Six other players scored at least three points as
Bryndan Matthews put up nine points and six boards while
Diallo Powell and
Sam Siganos each added six.
Jon Doss caught fire from deep for MSU Moorhead with five three to finish with a game-high 19 points while Tanner Kretchman chipped in 17 points as well. Ayob Ayob and Addison Park also each scored in double figures in the win.
After three early threes for the Dragons pushed their lead to 9-4, CSP rattled off an impressive run to take the lead. The Golden Bears scored 12 of the next 14 points to build a 16-11 advantage with 11:39 to play in the half and remained out front for the next three minutes. Their lead remained out front at 20-17 before 11 in a row for MSUM pushed them ahead 28-20. Concordia chipped away from there with a 7-0 run to pull within one, but the Dragons remained out front 32-29 heading into the break.
The Dragons added to their lead early in the second half with five in a row before quickly extending the lead to nine at 40-31. The lead remained three possessions or more as it eventually hit double figures at 50-40 with 13:40 to go before continuing to grow from there. Concordia was unable to shrink the deficit below 10 the rest of the way as MSU Moorhead remained in control to close out the win.
Concordia returns home next weekend as Wayne State and Augustana come to town. The Golden Bears are set to face the Wildcats on Friday at 8 p.m. and the Vikings on Saturday at 6 p.m.
