MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team pulled off a shock exhibition upset of Division I Milwaukee (2-1) by a score of 69-55 on Friday night at Panther Arena. With the win, the Golden Bears claimed their first win over a DI opponent during the DII era.

The game was an official regular season game for Milwaukee as part of its Black & Gold Shootout. The Panthers were coming off a 74-56 win at Iowa State on Monday night in Ames, Iowa. CSP continues play in the Black & Gold Shootout tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. against Elon (N.C.) in another exhibition game for CSP (official for Elon) before taking on Florida International on Sunday at 1 p.m. in regular season play.
 
CSP got their revenge against the Panthers after nearly stealing a game in Milwaukee back in 2014 in a 64-59. The Golden Bears dominated for much of the night this time around in what ended up as a double-digit victory. Prior to tonight's meeting, MKE had claimed four wins in as many meetings against Concordia, including three countable contests for CSP (all four countable for MKE).
 
The Golden Bears found major success on both ends of the court as they connected on 56% (27-48) from the floor and an even 50% (10-20) from three-point range while holding Milwaukee to 30% (18-61) shooting and 15% (5-33) from deep. After a scintillating start in the opening 20 minutes, CSP rode the wave to a strong finish in the second half as the lead was never really in jeopardy.
 
The duo of Bryndan Matthews and Cody Carlson gave the MKE defenders fits all night long as Matthews led all scorers with 20 points to go along with eight boards while Carlson added 18 points and three rebounds off the bench. Matthews was efficient as he hit 9-14 from the field, but Carlson was even better as he knocked down all seven of his shots, including 4-4 from beyond the arc.
 
Brandon McRoy joined Carlson in double figures off the bench with 10 points as the Golden Bears held a massive 37-16 edge in bench scoring on the night. CSP also managed a solid 26-18 advantage in points in the paint as well as a 19-14 advantage in points off of turnovers.
 
August Haas led the Panthers with 13 points while Brock Stull chipped in 12 points in what was a regular season contest for Milwaukee as they picked up their first loss of the season.
 
The two teams had to wait nearly an hour past the scheduled tip-off time as Elon and Florida International played to three overtimes in the game prior to Concordia's at Panther Arena before a leak in the roof extended the delay another 30 minutes.
 
Following the delay, the Panthers and Golden Bears had some trouble putting points on the board in the opening six minutes as MKE grinded their way to an 11-5 lead before Concordia caught fire. Over the next three and a half minutes, CSP scored all 14 points to take a 19-11 lead with 10:16 to go before the break. Milwaukee answered with six in a row and remained within two at 23-21 before another Golden Bear run, this time a 10-1 burst, ballooned the lead out to 33-22. The Panthers slowed the run with a three to cut it to eight at 33-25, but that would be it for them before the break as Concordia hit four three-pointers and a layup down the stretch to take an astonishing 47-25 advantage into the locker room.
 
In the half, CSP hit an incredible 69% (18-26) of their shots, including 64% (9-14) from deep. On the defensive end, the Golden Bears were nearly as effective as they limited the Panthers to 28% (9-32) shooting and just 11% (2-18) from three-point range. Matthews and Carlson combined to connect 12-13 from the floor and 6-7 from deep as Matthews led all scorers with 16 points and Carlson added 14 before the half.
 
Milwaukee came out with energy in the second half as they chopped the CSP lead down to 13 following an 11-2 run to make it 49-36. That would be as close as they would get after the break, however, as the Golden Bears answered back with an 8-0 run to push the lead back over 20 points. Concordia's largest lead of the night came at the 67-44 mark with 5:31 to play on Carlson's fourth three of the night before MKE chipped away with the game in hand. The Panthers closed out the game on an 11-2 run to cut it to a final margin of 69-55, but it was much too late as the Golden Bears claimed the dramatic victory.