ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (5-6) finished the game on a 33-9 run to pull off a dramatic 84-80 win over Presentation on Tuesday night at Gangelhoff Center.
The Golden Bears looked to be buried as they trailed 71-51 with under five minutes left on the clock before completely shifting the momentum with some high-pressure defense to storm back for the victory. CSP connected on eight of their final nine shots from the floor and five of six from three to fuel a wild 33-9 run and complete the miraculous comeback. Hayden Baughman gave Concordia their first lead since the opening moments of the second half with a clutch three with 16 seconds to play before Isaiah McKay iced it with a pair of free throws following a defensive stop.
Heading into the final stretch of the game, Concordia was hitting just 39.6% (19-48) overall and 16.7% (3-18) from deep before the flurry brought those totals to 47.4% (27-57) and 33.3% (8-24) for the night. Presentation, on the other end, hit 39.1% (25-64) from the floor and 22.2% (4-18) from beyond the arc. Both teams spent a lot of the night at the free throw line as PC hit 26-32 (81.3%) and CSP hit 22-35 (62.9%).
Despite the loss, the Saints finished the night with an impressive 47-28 edge on the glass, including a 16-5 edge in offensive rebounds, to give them a 17-2 advantage in second chance points. Presentation also collected a 40-22 edge in bench scoring and 40-32 edge in points in the paint.
Bryndan Matthews put up an incredibly efficient offensive output with 21 points on just eight shots as he connected on seven of them along with 7-11 at the free throw line. The senior also added five assists and four rebounds in the win.
Matthews was one of five Golden Bears to score in double figures as Elliot Kane, Isaiah McKay, Hayden Baughman and Noah Kannegiesser all reached the mark. Kane poured in a career-best 17 points on 5-10 shooting while McKay filled the stat sheet with 16 points, five assists, four steals and two boards. Baughman hit 4-9 from deep, including the game-winner, while Kannegiesser scored a career-high 10 points on 4-7 from the floor.
Quadre Lollis was a one-man wrecking crew with a game-high 29 points, 23 of which came in the second half, as he hit a perfect 15-15 at the line and 7-11 from the floor to go along with eight rebounds. Tayton Maher added 14 points with four threes.
Concordia got off to a strong start as they scored the first four points of the game before and held the Saints to just one made field goal en route to building a 12-4 advantage at the 12:27 mark of the opening half. The CSP lead reached nine a few minutes later at 15-6 before a 9-0 run the other way evened it up at 15-15. The run extended from there as Presentation answered a Golden Bear bucket with five more points to take a 20-17 lead with 6:33 to go in the half. The Golden Bears responded with the next six to regain the lead to set up a back and forth finish to the opening 20 minutes. There would be two more lead changes before the break to set up a late basket for the Saints to even it up at 30-30 at the half.
The even play continued for the first three minutes of the second half as Concordia led as late as 34-32 before the Saints took over. Presentation regained the lead at the 15:51 mark and remained out front until the final minute of the game. Up just one at 43-42, PC rattled off an extended 22-7 run capped off by 10 of 11 to take a 65-49 lead with 8:31 to go. They continued to pile on as their advantage grew to 71-51 with 5:37 on the clock to set up the dramatic finish.
The Golden Bears will be off for the next 12 days before returning home after the break for a Dec. 30th meeting with Minnesota State. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. in that contest.
