MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-3) dropped the final contest in the Black & Gold Shootout by a score of 77-67 to Florida International (2-3) on Sunday afternoon at Panther Arena.
 
The Golden Bears made it three straight competitive games against Division I competition as they kept it close throughout despite playing their third game in as many days. CSP dominated down low against the Panthers by holding a 37-30 edge in the rebounding department as well as a 30-22 edge in points in the paint but were unable to turn it into a win as FIU took care of the basketball and utilized a deep bench. FIU committed just seven turnovers and allowed just six points off of those turnovers while they managed a decisive 29-12 advantage in bench scoring.
 
The duo of Bryndan Matthews and Avan Ward did much of the heavy lifting as they combined for 30 of the team's 67 points on the day. Matthews extended his streak to seven consecutive games (including the three exhibition contests) with at least 15 points to start the year as he led the team with 16 points on 6-13 shooting to go along with four assists and three rebounds. Ward registered his first collegiate double-double as the guard collected 14 points with a pair of threes as well as a game and career-best 12 boards in the game.
 
Ted Brown put together another efficient day with 10 points on 4-6 from the floor with five boards while Ahmad Newsome added eight points. Brandon McRoy chipped in seven points and five assists while Max Keefe had seven points as well.
 
Trejon Jacob was impressive in the victory for the Panthers as he hit four three-pointers and finished with a game-high 23 points while Michael Douglas added 16 points with five boards as well.
 
In their third contest in just 40 hours, the Golden Bears got off to a slow start as the Panthers jumped out to a 7-2 lead. CSP scored the next five to pull even, but FIU responded with eight of 10 to extend their lead to 15-9. Concordia cut it back down to one at 17-16 and remained within just a few points until the midpoint of the half when FIU pushed it to double figures at 29-18 with 7:33 to go in the half with an 8-0 run. CSP managed to shrink the gap back down to six before a 7-3 run to close the half pushed it back to double figures at 37-27.
 
The Golden Bears cut the deficit back to single digits early in the second half as they looked for their second upset of a Division I opponent in three days. CSP had it down to six at 39-33 before cutting it to five at 46-41 with 15:34 to play before FIU went on the offensive. The Panthers used an extended 16-5 run spanning 5:11 to build their largest lead of the night at 62-46. That lead remained 16 at 71-55 with just 3:55 left before Concordia put together a late push to make things interesting down the stretch. CSP scored the next six in a row and nine of 11 to cut it back to nine with 1:25 to play, but they were unable to pull any closer as the Panthers held on for a 77-67 win.
 
CSP is back in action right away on Tuesday night on their home court as they play host to Presentation at 7 p.m. for their final home non-conference contest.