FAYETTE, Iowa – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (5-22, 2-18 NSIC) was unable to overcome an early 13-0 run as they fell 75-61 to Upper Iowa (18-8, 15-5 NSIC) on Saturday night.
 
The Peacocks pulled within a game of evening the all-time series as they cut CSP's lead to 14-13 in 27 meetings. The win was also UIU's fifth in six meetings between the two schools while it marked just their fourth win in 13 contests in Fayette.
 
For the second night in a row, the Golden Bears dominated on the glass as they held a 39-25 edge in rebounding, including a 13-5 in offensive rebounding, but it wasn't enough in the loss. Turnovers haunted CSP as they turned the ball over 21 times resulting in 22 points for Upper Iowa. The Peacocks also turned it over 16 times but Concordia was unable to capitalize with just seven points off turnovers.
 
Upper Iowa held an edge in the shooting department as they knocked down 47.2% (25-53) from the floor compared to 42.1% (24-57) for the Golden Bears. UIU also held an 8-3 edge in threes made as well as a 17-10 edge in free throws made on the night.
 
Bryndan Matthews made it back-to-back double-doubles with 18 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three steals as he hit eight of his 14 shots. His two double-doubles on the weekend give him five on the year.
 
Diallo Powell joined Matthews in double figures in scoring with 11 points as he also chipped in four boards off the bench. Sam Siganos and Ted Brown each had nine points as Siganos added six assists and Brown added six rebounds.
 
Jimmy Roth was a major difference-maker for the Peacocks as he led all scorers with 25 points as he hit an efficient 7-9 from the floor and 9-11 from the charity stripe in the win. He also added four rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal in a full line. Josh Weeber also broke double digits with 13 points while knocking down three from beyond the arc.
 
CSP, aided by a couple buckets from Matthews, jumped ahead 6-5 in the first three minutes before a big 13-0 run put the Peacocks comfortably ahead at 18-6. The Golden Bears spent much of the rest of the half chipping away to work their way back in it. With the lead still at 12 at 21-9, Concordia strung together a 9-3 run to cut the deficit in half at 24-18 just past the midway point of the half. The lead returned to a dozen with UIU scoring six straight, but the Golden Bears surged back in it with an extended 13-4 burst to pull within three in the final two minutes before the break. Upper Iowa slowed the momentum slightly before the half with a free throw and a jumper to bring the score to 37-31 through 20 minutes.
 
The Golden Bears closed the gap to four with a Ted Brown jumper right after the break and held the gap to four a few minutes later at 39-35 before a 10-2 run pushed the lead back to a dozen at 49-37 for the Peacocks. A few minutes later at the 12:11 mark, UIU's lead hit 14 to push it to their largest lead of the night at 55-41 before CSP shrunk it back to single digits with five straight. After the lead returned to 14, a 9-2 run for the Golden Bears made things interesting to pull them all the way back within seven at 64-57 with 3:06. That would be all the closer they would get, however, as an 11-4 run to close out the game extended the margin back to 14 to give Upper Iowa at 75-61.
 
The Golden Bears return home next weekend for the regular season finale with Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State coming to town.