MARSHALL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (4-16, 1-12 NSIC) led for much of the first half but were unable to hold the lead as they fell to Southwest Minnesota State (15-3, 10-3 NSIC) by a score of 81-56 on Friday night.
 
It was a story of two halves as the Golden Bears held off the Mustangs for the first 15 minutes of the game before SMSU jumped ahead late in the opening half before outscoring CSP 45-26 after the break. CSP went cold in the final 20 minutes as they hit 23.1% in the second half to sink their percentage to a season-low 30.2% (16-53). On the other end, SMSU caught fire after the break as they hit 52.8% in the final 20 minutes to move their mark to 49.2% (32-65) for the night
 
The Mustangs dominated in several other statistical areas as well with a 44-33 edge on the glass (14-11 in offensive rebounds) as well as edges of 42-22 in points in the paint and 40-16 in bench scoring.
 
Bryndan Matthews paced all scorers on the night with an efficient 16 points on 4-8 shooting as he also hit 7-11 from the free throw line to go along with three rebounds. Matthews was joined in double figures with Max Keefe, who added 10 points and four boards in the loss.
 
Matt Ambriz added nine points, four rebounds and a pair of steals while Diallo Powell chipped in seven points off the bench. Sam Siganos also chipped in a team-high five assists.
 
SMSU received production from across the lineup with five players, including three bench players, scoring in double figures. Joey Bartlett led the team with 15 points off the bench and Carter Kirk contributed a big double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Michael Lee also put up 14 points.
 
CSP jumped ahead early by scoring the first eight points of the game as they led for much of the opening 20 minutes. The Mustangs slowed the momentum and cut it to four at 8-4 and 10-6 and cut it to three at 13-10 before the Golden Bears pushed it back to six with at three from Matthews. The lead remained at six at 18-12 at the midway point of the half, but SMSU took over from there.
 
Southwest Minnesota State rattled off seven straight points to take their first lead of the game at 19-18, and after back-to-back Siganos layups, SMSU scored eight of the next nine to take a 27-23 lead late in the half. CSP managed to even it back up with a 4-0 run before the Mustangs went on another run, this time a 9-3 burst, to build a 36-30 advantage at the break.
 
The Mustangs carried the momentum of a strong finish to the first half into the second half as they put the game out of reach. A quick five points pushed the lead to double figures for the first time all night for either team before it hit 15 a few minutes later at 50-35.
 
The lead continued to grow from there as it remained at 12 or above for the rest of the night. SMSU eventually extended their lead to as many as 32 at 74-42 before Concordia chipped away to bring it to a final of 81-56.
 
The Golden Bears are back in action tomorrow night at 6 p.m. as they cross the border in South Dakota to take on Sioux Falls.