ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (5-23, 2-19 NSIC) fell just short in a thrilling contest with Sioux Falls (14-15, 10-11 NSIC) by a score of 73-69 on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears erased a 10 point second half deficit to take the lead in the final minutes, but they were unable to hang on as the Cougars took the lead for good with 1:25 to play.
 
The loss drops CSP to 6-13 overall against Sioux Falls and 4-5 on their home court in the series.
 
It was nearly even across the board in the box score in what was a very even contest. The Cougars held an edge in made threes as they hit nine compared to three for Concordia, but the Golden Bears nearly made up for that gap at the free throw line as they hit 26 free throws compared to 14 for USF.
 
Both teams finished nearly the same from the field as CSP held a slight edge at 38.5% (20-52) to 37.9% (25-66) and both teams put up an even 42 rebounds on the night.
 
Concordia rode a tight rotation on the night as just seven players played and six scored. Bryndan Matthews came a rebound shy of making it three double-doubles in a row as he led the Golden Bears with 24 points and added nine boards. Matthews was an efficient 7-13 shooting and 9-13 from the line to go along with a pair of steals and a pair of assists.
 
While Matthews continued to contribute big numbers, Brandon McRoy stepped up off the bench to give the team a career night with a career-high 17 points to go along with nine rebounds, also matching his career best. McRoy also got to the free throw line at a hige rate as he hit 10-12 from the charity stripe while also chipping in three steals.
 
Ted Brown was the final CSP player in double figures with 10 points on 4-6 shooting while Sam Siganos filled it up with eight points, five assists and three rebounds. Carter Brooks was active as well as he picked up five points and eight rebounds.
 
Mack Johnson was busy offensively for the Cougars with 22 shot attempts as he led all scorers with 28 on the night. Zach Wessels and Daniel Hurtt each added 14 points as Wessels also needed one more rebound for the double-double.
 
The two teams went back and forth in the opening minutes as the game remained within two possessions for over 12 minutes of play. The Cougars took a four point lead at 10-6 and after the Golden Bears evened it up twice, USF pushed their lead out to five at 17-12. After a Matthews free throw, Drew Guebert hit a three to extend it to seven before the lead eventually reach nine at 25-16 with 5:45 left in the half. The lead hovered around nine for much of the rest of the half as the team traded buckets before a late 5-0 run in the final minute cut it back to four at 33-29 heading to the locker rooms.
 
It was far from an efficient opening 20 minutes for either team as CSP hit 39.1% (9-23) from the floor, including missing all eight attempts from deep, while USF knocked down just 33.3% (13-39) and 21.4% (3-14) from beyond the arc.
 
USF pushed it back to six with a bucket after the break, but the next five points went in favor of CSP to bring them within one for the first time since the opening few minutes of the game. That run would be short-lived, however, as a 9-1 run matched Sioux Falls' largest lead of the night at 44-35. A few minutes later, the lead grew to 10 at 49-39 with 13:34 left on the clock before the Golden Bears embarked on their comeback effort.
 
Concordia quickly got it down to four following an 8-2 run lasting just a minute and a half and pulled within one by the midway mark at 53-52. A minute later, Ted Brown tied the score with a layup before Max Keefe put CSP in front 57-55 with a three with 6:37 to go. The next four minutes featured four ties and a pair of lead changes as the Golden Bears held a lead as late as 65-63 with 1:47 to play, but Zach Wessels delivered the go-ahead basket with a three to make it 66-65. A turnover for CSP with just under a minute left set up a Hurtt three to make it a four point game with 35 seconds on the clock before the Cougars iced the game at the free throw line.
 
Concordia will look to close out the regular season on a high note tomorrow night on Senior Night as they play host to Southwest Minnesota State at 6 p.m.