ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-11, 0-6 NSIC) fell to #13 Northern State (13-1, 7-0 NSIC) by a score of 84-71 at Gangelhoff Center on Saturday night.
The Golden Bears' second half three-point barrage with eight threes on 12 attempts after the break wasn't enough to erase a 48-28 halftime deficit as the Wolves held off a feverish CSP push.
Avan Ward played a key role in the comeback attempt as he hit 6-9 from beyond the arc, including 5-6 in the second half, to finish with a game-high 26 points. Ward also chipped in six boards and four assists on the night as he hit 10-18 from the floor.
The loss drops Concordia to 7-28 in the all-time series with Northern State as NSU picked up their ninth win in 15 trips to St. Paul. The Wolves also evened the regular season series over the past four years with both teams going 2-2 during that span.
Both teams utilized the three-ball with Northern State hitting 10-23 (43.5%) from three-point range compared to 9-16 (56.3%) for the Golden Bears. The Wolves created their edge with a strong showing down low as they led 36-20 in points in the paint to bring their overall percentage from the floor at 49.1% (28-57) while CSP hit 41.4% (24-58). Both teams were efficient from the free throw line as well with Concordia hitting 82.4% (14-17) and NSU hitting 81.8% (18-22).
Joining Ward in double figures for the Golden Bears were
Evan Wesenberg and
Cody Carlson as both chipped in 11 points on the night. Wesenberg added nine boards, four assists, three steals and two blocks in a full line while Carlson pulled down six rebounds.
Brandon McRoy contributed nine points while
Elliot Kane and
Ted Brown put up seven points apiece for the short-handed Golden Bears.
Darin Peterka paced the Wolves with an efficient 25 points on 7-14 shooting and 8-9 from the floor while all five starters scored at least eight points. Ian Smith double-doubled with 14 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals in the win. NSU received 13 points from DJ Pollard and 12 points from Gabe King as well.
After an even first five minutes in which the two teams traded buckets, Northern State turned an 11-10 lead into a 26-10 lead with a 15-0 burst spanning just over three minutes. Concordia battled back to within 12 at 29-17 and remained within that margin at 31-19 before an extended 17-7 run grew the Northern State lead to 22 right before the break. CSP grabbed a late bucket to cut it to 48-28 heading into the locker room.
The Wolves came out with the first five points to grow the lead to 25 before pushing it to a game-high 26 with 14:58 to play at 61-38. The Golden Bears chipped away for much of the rest of the half as they put the pressure on NSU. Over the next eight minutes, Concordia, paced by three threes from Ward, put together an impressive 22-6 run to close the gap all the way down to 10 at 67-57 with 7:41 left on the clock. That would be all the closer they would get as Northern State stemmed the tide from there. CSP remained within 11 with 3:40 to play, but a DJ Pollard layup to beat the shot clock and an Ian Smith steal and layup pushed it back to 15 to put it out of reach. The Wolves took care of business at the line down the stretch to close out the 84-71 win.
The Golden Bears return to action tomorrow afternoon with a 4:00 p.m. tip against MSU Moorhead at Gangelhoff Center to finish off 2017.
