ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears men's basketball team (2-0) pulled out an incredible 118-113 triple overtime victory over Arkansas Tech (1-1) on Sunday afternoon to close out the NSIC/GAC Crossover Challenge.
Trailing by nine with under a minute to play in regulation, the Golden Bears put together an improbable 10-1 run capped by a huge three from
Isaiah McKay just to force overtime.
The fun was just beginning as the two teams traded blows over the three overtime periods as players from both squads stepped up and hit big shots. CSP connected on 15-22 from the floor and 5-7 from three over the three overtime periods while ATU followed close behind with 12-23 shooting and 5-11 from three.
In the first overtime, Concordia hit all six of their shots including a McKay bucket to make it 92-87 with 50 seconds left, but the Wonder Boys came through with a crucial run of their own. Threes from Alex Brown and RJ Glasper sandwiched around a
Hayden Baughman free throw sent it to a second overtime.
CSP once again led for large chunk of the second overtime as McKay and
Bryndan Matthews went back and forth hitting shots before Mason Cline sent it to a third overtime with another late three.
Trailing 113-111 with 57 seconds left in the third overtime, the Golden Bears would not be denied as they scored the final seven points of the game to pick up the win.
Elliot Kane gave CSP the lead for good with a three with 40 seconds on the clock before
Lee Higgins finished off a fast break layup and McKay iced it with a pair of free throws to bring it to the final score of 118-113.
On a day filled with superlatives, the Golden Bears set the DII-era program record with 118 points while having two players surpass the 30-point plateau in the same game for the first time as well. The 118 blew past the previous best of 112 set against Trinity Bible in 2005 and North Central in 2006 while falling four shy of the all-time CSP record of 122 set back in 1968-69 against St. Paul Bible.
With the team's 68.2% outburst in overtime, CSP finished the day at 50.6% (43-85) from the floor for the game, including 41.7% (15-36) from three. The 15 made threes edged the 14 from Saturday and matched the team's best output since hitting 15 against Winona State on Feb. 15, 2013.
The duo of
Bryndan Matthews and
Isaiah McKay were nearly unstoppable throughout the afternoon as they combined for 70 of the team's 118 points, including 29 of the team's 40 points in overtime.
Matthews flirted with a triple-double with a career-high 34 points to go along with 15 boards and seven assists as he hit 13-22 from the field.
McKay outdid Matthews with 36 points, including 20 in overtime to lead all scorers. He also chipped in five rebounds and four assists while hitting 13 of his 21 shots and six of his 13 threes. His 36 points tied for second-most in the Division II era at Concordia. Through his first two games of his Golden Bear career, McKay is averaging 30.0 points and 7.5 rebounds with 4.5 threes made per game.
Lee Higgins added his first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds while
Elliot Kane also reached double figures with 15 points.
Alex Brown paced the Wonder Boys with 32 points before fouling out while RJ Glasper scored 24 points on a staggering 34 shots in the loss.
Kane and Matthews got the Golden Bears off to a fast start with 10 of the game's first 12 points to build a quick 10-2 lead. Concordia's lead remained at seven at the 12:25 mark at 18-11 before a 6-0 run for the Wonder Boys shrunk the gap to one. CSP responded with an extended 11-4 run over the next five minutes to regain their eight point edge at 29-21. Another run, this time a 7-0 burst for Arkansas Tech had the deficit back to just one, but they were unable to get over the hump before the break as the Golden Bears retained their lead. Concordia pushed it back to six with a late bucket from McKay, but a three for the Wonder Boys right before the buzzer made it 44-41 at the half.
Arkansas Tech took their first lead of the game with a 5-0 run to start the second half before pushing out to six at 54-48 with a 16-4 run starting late in the opening half. The Golden Bears closed the gap to one with the next five points, but the Wonder Boys maintained a lead until McKay's late three to force overtime. With CSP within one at 65-64 with 6:25 to play, ATU strung together a 12-4 run over the next five and a half minutes to set up the dramatics.
The Golden Bears will look to stay unbeaten next Saturday night with a 6 p.m. tip against Edgewood at Gangelhoff Center.
