SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (4-3, 0-2 NSIC) saw a late surge fall short in a 91-81 loss at Sioux Falls (7-1, 2-0 NSIC) on Friday night.
Concordia managed to turn a 15 point deficit with 5:51 to play into a two-possession game in the final minute, but were unable to complete the comeback as USF held on to improve to 16-6 in the all-time series with CSP. The Cougars continued to find success against the Golden Bears on their home court as they moved to 8-2 in Sioux Falls in 10 meetings there between the two schools.
CSP turned things around offensively in a big way in the second half as they bounced back from hitting 37.9% from the floor before the break, including missing all six attempts from three-point range, to hit 55.9% (19-34) in the second half to finish the game at 47.6% (30-63).
While the Golden Bears managed to hold the high-powered USF offense to 44.3% (31-70) from the floor and just 20.0% (4-20) from deep, turnovers and rebounding proved to be the difference. Sioux Falls used a 16-8 edge in turnovers forced to gain an 18-5 edge in points off of turnovers while also turning a 45-36 rebounding advantage into a 21-12 advantage in second chance points.
The duo of
Bryndan Matthews and
Isaiah McKay continued their torrid start to the season as Matthews led the team with 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks while McKay added 19 points, seven boards and three assists and a pair of blocks. Matthews was once again efficient shooting as he knocked down 9-14 from the field.
Jalen Mobley also added another impressive performance as he hit 5-8 off the bench to chip in 15 points and seven rebounds.
Sioux Falls' duo lived up to the hype as Drew Guebert paced all players with 28 points to go along with seven boards, three assists and an incredible six steals while Trevon Evans contributed 23 points and six rebounds. Justin Taylor provided another solid presence with a massive double-double as he put up 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Cougars in the win.
After the Golden Bears opened the game with four of the first six points to take an early lead, the Cougars quickly shifted the momentum with a huge 16-1 run to go ahead 18-5 just over six minutes in. The USF lead reached 15 at 22-7 before remaining in double figures for the rest of the half. CSP responded with the next four points to pull back within 11 before trimming it to 10 at 33-23 later in the half following another 4-0 run. Sioux Falls looked to be adding to their lead heading to the break as they regained a 14 point advantage at 41-27 with 1:39 left, but Concordia finished the half with the final four points to cut it right back to 10 at 41-31.
Sioux Falls continued to comfortably hold a double-digit point advantage for the first several minutes of the second half as their lead sat at 14 at 52-38 with 16:39 to go in the game, but CSP battled back from there.
Hayden Baughman sparked a 9-0 run with a three as Matthews followed by sandwiching a pair of layups around a bucket from
Lee Higgins to cut it to 52-47. The Cougars stopped the momentum as they didn't allow Concordia to chip away any further as their lead remained two possessions or more. With CSP still within seven at 60-53 at the 11:04 mark, USF embarked on an 11-4 run to regain some breathing room at 71-57.
The Golden Bears would not go away, however, as they shaved a 79-64 advantage for the Cougars with 5:51 to go in the game down to nine with a 6-0 run over the next three minutes. Concordia further chipped away as Mobley finished off back-to-back old-fashioned three-point plays to make it a two-possession game at 83-77 with 59.9 seconds left on the clock. USF, however, finished the job at the free throw line as they hit eight free throws down the stretch to seal a 91-81 win.
The Golden Bears wrap up the road trip tomorrow with a 6 p.m. tip at Southwest Minnesota State.
