RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (0-2) saw Arkansas Tech (2-0) pull away in the second half as the Golden Bears fell 86-67 in the final contest in the GAC/NSIC Crossover Challenge.
For the second night in a row, three-point shooting played a major role as the Wonder Boys outscored Conordia by 36 points from beyond the arc on the night. While last night it was efficiency beyond the arc that made the difference, tonight it was volume as ATU knocked down 16 three on a staggering 41 attempts (39.0%) while the Golden Bears hit just 4-15 (26.7%). Turnovers were also a factor again as CSP turned it over 23 times compared to 11 for Arkansas Tech.
Also for the second time in as many nights, Concordia managed to shoot a higher percentage overall from the floor than their opponent as they finished at 45.8% (27-59) compared to 45.1% (32-71) for ATU. CSP also held a solid 42-34 edge in the rebounding department (13-11 on the offensive glass) as well as a 40-22 edge in the paint, but it wasn't enough to come out on top.
Bryndan Matthews filled the stat sheet as he led all players with 20 points on 9-15 shooting and 13 rebounds while also chipping in three assists. Perhaps most impressively, Matthews tallied 13 boards on a night in which no other player collected more than six.
Ted Brown connected on all four of his shots to finish with 10 points on the night to go along with five rebounds and a pair of assists. Matthews and Brown were the only Golden Bear to finish in double figures as Evan Wesenberg and Elliot Kane each added nine points. Wesenberg hit 4-8 from the floor while Kane drained 3-6 from beyond the arc.
Five different Arkansas Tech players scored in double figures as Alex Brown paced the squad with 17 points and five threes in the win. Trevin Woods also hit five threes to finish with 15 points while Harris Brown contributed 15 points as well.
After the Golden Bears built an early 4-2 lead, the Wonder Boys knocked down three threes in the span of two minutes to build an 11-6 lead of their own. The Golden Bears chipped away over the next five minutes before taking a 19-18 lead with 11:26 left in the opening half, but ATU scored the next five points regain the lead. Arkansas Tech extended the lead out to seven at 30-23 with 6:24 to go before the break, but CSP battled their way back again to tie it up at 35-35 following a Wesenberg dunk and a Matthews and-one. ATU added one more three before the half to take a 38-35 lead into the locker room.
Woods knocked down three early threes in the second half to push the lead out to double figures at 47-37 as the three-point barrage continued. The lead hit 14 at 55-41 before a 6-0 run cut it back to eight at 55-47 with 15:20 to play, capped off by a Kane three. The would be the last bucket for the Golden Bears for nearly four minutes as Arkansas Tech embarked on a 12-0 run to blow it open midway through the half with a 67-47 edge. CSP cut the deficit back down to 14 at 69-55, but Arkanas Tech kept their foot on the gas and prevented a Golden Bear comeback. The Wonder Boys led by as many as 21 down the stretch before closing it out 86-67.
The Golden Bears return home for their home opener this week as they host North Central at 7 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center on Tuesday night.
