WINONA, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (11-15, 8-12 NSIC) took over in the second half for the second night in a row as they completed the weekend sweep with a 67-62 win over Winona State (13-11, 12-8 NSIC) on Saturday night.
 
The Golden Bears extended their winning streak to three as they made it five wins in six games heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
 
A huge 17-0 spurt as a part of a bigger 26-5 run in the second half to turn a WSU lead into the decisive advantage for CSP on the night.
 
Concordia hit just 29.2% (7-24) in the first half before firing an efficient 50.0% (13-26) after the break. The Golden Bears also held a strong advantage on the glass as they grabbed 41 rebounds (nine offensive) compared to 32 (six offensive) for the Warriors.
 
Cole Olstad paced the Golden Bears with 21 points, including 14 in the second half, as he knocked down 6-13 from the flooring while picking up seven boards, two blocks and two steals in a hefty 39 minutes of action. His 21 points pulled him within two points of Jeff Chamberlain for third on the all-time scoring list in program history.
 
Bryndan Matthews added 12 of his 14 points in the second half while Diallo Powell chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench as well.
 
Conrad Masberg led the Warriors with 15 points while Kyle Bauman put in 14 and Riley Bambenek scored 11.
 
The two teams jockeyed for the lead in the opening minutes as the two teams saw the lead change hands three times to go along with three ties to bring it to a score of 11-11 seven minutes in. From that point, The Golden Bears went ice cold as they were held scoreless for nearly five minutes as the Warriors built a double-digit lead with a 10-0 run.
 
Olstad finally broke the streak with a layup with 7:59 to go in the first half before Concordia and Winona State went back to trading buckets. The gap remained at 10 at 27-17 with 3:59 left in the opening half before CSP closed out the half strong. The Golden Bears scored the final seven points of the half to take momentum into the locker room as they trailed 27-24 at the break.
 
After Matt Ambriz hit a three to tie the game and extend the run to 10-0 early in the second, the Warriors seemed to stem the tide as they maintained a small lead for the next few minutes. WSU remained up five at 36-31 with 16:39 to play before nine of the next 11 to take their first lead since the first few minutes of the game at 40-38.
 
The Warriors momentarily regained the lead with a three, but the Golden Bears put the game away with an impressive 17-0 run spanning 6:28 to build a massive 57-41 advantage with 5:25 left on the clock.
 
That gap would be too much to overcome as Winona State battled back to within three in the final minute before Bryndan Matthews and Shea Mandli sealed the 67-62 win at the free throw line.
 
Concordia closes out the regular season at home next weekend as Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls come to town.