RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (0-1) dropped their season opener to #23 Arkansas-Monticello (1-0) by a score of 97-88 on Friday night in the GAC/NSIC Crossover Challenge.
 
The two offenses shined in the contest the Golden Bears hit better than 60% from the floor in both halves to finish the game 61.2% (30-49) from the floor while the Weevils followed close behind at 58.3% (35-60). CSP's mark from the field matched the fifth-best shooting performance in program history, making it their most efficient outing since hitting a staggering 67.4% (31-46) against Minnesota State back on Dec. 20, 2014. That mark also represents Concordia's highest percentage ever in a loss.
 
Arkansas-Monticello made up for it from beyond the arc as they hit 11 of their 18 three-point attempts (61.1%) compared to 8-19 (42.1%) for the Golden Bears. UAM also took advantage of a 16-9 differential in turnovers forced as they turned that into a 23-7 edge in points off of turnovers. CSP, meanwhile, out-scored the Weevils 28-13 off the bench as well as 34-30 in the paint to go along with a 28-23 advantage on the glass.
 
Avan Ward put together a very impressive debut for the Golden Bears with a team-best 24 points on 8-16 shooting and 5-12 from deep while he also added four boards and four assists on the night. Ward's five threes matched the most in a game for CSP since Nov. 22, 2016.
 
Bryndan Matthews added a solid stat line as well with 18 points and seven boards as he hit 5-10 from the field and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. Ted Brown joined the two in double figures with 11 points on an efficient 5-6 shooting to go along with six rebounds. Elliot Kane hit all three of his shots from the floor and both his free throws to chip in nine points while Max Keefe went 4-5 for nine points as well.
 
It was a starter-dominant night for Arkansas-Monticello as four of their five starters combined to score 84 of the team's 97 points, including three players with over 20 points in the win. Tyrin Jones led the way with 26 points on 9-11 shooting and 4-5 from three along with four steals five blocks for UAM. Derylton Hill added 23 points on 9-16 from the floor while Cobe Goosby had 21 and five assists on 8-12 shooting, including 3-4 from deep.
 
CSP got off to a strong start with the first four points of the game as they held a slight lead until the 12-12 mark just over five minutes in. After the two teams traded a bucket on each end, the Golden Bears strung together a 5-0 run to build their largest lead of the night at 19-14. Arkansas-Monticello responded with a 9-3 run to jump back out front 23-22 before Concordia temporarily regained their edge with three free throws at 25-23 with 8:57 to go in the half. That would be their last lead as an extended 14-5 run spanning four minutes gave the Weevils a 37-30 lead. That lead continued to grow as UAM pushed it to as many as 14 at 51-37 before Brandon McRoy scored the final four points of the half to close the margin to 51-41 at the half.
 
The first half featured very few missed shots on either end as the Golden Bears knocked down 61.9% (13-21) from the floor, only have UAM to connect on 64.3% (18-28) before the break. The Weevils were somehow even better from deep as they knocked down 7-10 (70.0%) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The two teams traded baskets out of the gate in the second half as UAM maintained an 11 point advantage at 62-51 until a Matthews layup and a Ward three brought the Golden Bears back within six at 62-56 with 13:32 left in the game. Just past the midway point of the half, Ward nailed another three to further shrink the margin as he cut it to 70-65. A few minutes later, Ted Brown threw down a dunk and drew the foul for the three-point play to bring CSP as close as they would get in the second half as they were within four at 72-68 with 8:16 remaining. Back-to-back threes on the other end quickly pushed it back to double figures as the two teams went back to trading buckets from there. Still down 11 at 90-79 with under three to play, Concordia showed some resilience as they clawed their way back to within two possessions with just over a minute left at 90-84. Arkansas-Monticello took care of business down the stretch at the free throw line as they closed out a 97-88 victory.
 
CSP didn't cool down much after the break as they hit 60.7% (17-28) in the final 20 minutes while UAM also hit an efficient 53.1% (17-32) after the break.
 
Concordia will return to the court tomorrow night at 8 p.m. as they take on Arkansas Tech in the final game in the GAC/NSIC Crossover Challenge.