SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (5-22, 4-17 NSIC) battled back on several occasions in the second half but were unable to come out on top in a 79-68 loss at Sioux Falls (18-9, 13-8 NSIC) on Friday night to kick off the final regular season weekend.
USF's Trevon Evans scored early and often as he exploded for 37 points on 12-23 shooting and 10-11 from the charity stripe to lead them to victory.
The loss dropped the Golden Bears to 6-15 in the all-time series against the Cougars as USF made it four straight wins over CSP. USF also improved their mark to 9-2 on their home court against Concordia. With the Golden Bears now locked into the eight-seed in the NSIC South and Northern State locked into the top spot in the NSIC North with a two game lead with one to play, the two schools will meet in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament.
The Cougars led from start to finish as they utilized a 39-27 edge on the glass, including a 17-7 edge on the offensive glass, to cruise to victory. Points off of turnovers also proved to be a difference-maker as USF scored 25 points off of CSP's 14 turnovers while the Golden Bears had 16 points off of Sioux Falls' 11 turnovers. The Cougars also got to the free throw line much more frequently as they connected on 17-26 (65.4%) compared to 8-10 (80.0%) for Concordia.
The Golden Bears nearly made up the gap by out-shooting USF 48.3% (28-58) to 45.2% (28-62) and outscoring their bench 20-10, but it wasn't enough as Sioux Falls held on for the win.
The scoring load fell on
Bryndan Matthews' shoulders as he collected a team-best 22 points 9-17 from the floor. He also chipped in four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Joining him in double figures for the Golden Bears,
Avan Ward and
Cody Carlson each added 12 points on the night. Ward hit 5-10 and 2-3 from deep while Carlson connected on an efficient 5-7 from the floor.
Ahmad Newsome led the way in the rebounding category with seven boards to go along with six points before fouling out.
Along with Evans, Drew Guebert hit double digits with 11 points for the Cougars as nine different players scored for their in the winning effort.
The Cougars put Concordia in a deep early hole as they scored the first five points as a part of a larger 17-4 run through the first five plus minutes to build a double digit advantage. After a pair of CSP buckets cut it back to single digits, USF scored nine of the next 13 to extend their lead out to 14 at 26-12. The Golden Bears came storming back to cut it to four at the 7:49 mark following a 10-0 burst, but that's all the closer they would get before the break. Sioux Falls exploded for a 15-2 run to make it 41-24 before Concordia closed the gap to 12 at 45-33 at the half.
After a USF bucket opened the second half, CSP cut their lead in half with a 7-0 run. The Golden Bears managed to pull within two possessions at 51-45 and again at 53-47 with 13 minutes to go, but the Cougars were quickly back on the offensive with five in a row to regain a lead of double figures. That wouldn't be enough to put away Concordia, however, as a 9-3 run got the Golden Bears to within five with 7:40 to play at 61-56. The game of runs continued with six in favor of USF before the Golden Bears scored seven straight to make it 67-63 with five to play. The momentum shifted back the other way as the Cougars rattled off an 8-0 run to put the game out of reach. The Golden Bears chipped away to get as close as seven in the final minutes, but USF scored the last four points of the night to bring it to a 79-68 final.
The Golden Bears conclude regular season play tomorrow night as they head to Southwest Minnesota State for a 6 p.m. tip-off.
