VERMILLION, S.D. - Armed with 10 newcomers, Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball took on its first live challenge of the 2019-20 preseason, falling 72-61 at NCAA DI South Dakota at Sanford Coyote Sports Center.

The Golden Bears were hot from the arc, burying 11-of-21 (52.4%) three-pointers while holding USD to 4-of-15 (26.7%) on its home nets.

Freshman George Scharlau paced the three-point shooting effort by going 3-of-4 from the arc and leading the team in scoring with 10 points. Although he fouled out in just under 15 minutes of floor time, Scharlau led the team in +/- at +8.

Outside of Scharlau, the three-point barrage was a team effort as eight different players each made one three and all 10 players who saw the court attempted at least one three-pointer in the game.

Additionally, all 10 Golden Bears scored at least three-points on the night.

USD started strong with the game's first six points in the first two-plus minutes of play but CSP wasn't phased, cutting the early margin to 8-7 and using a 7-0 run to cut it to 19-17 with 8:32 to play in the half.

Concordia never tied the game or led, but kept it close throughout the first half until the Coyotes put up the last five points before the break for a 35-26 halftime edge.

In the second half, USD pushed it into double-digits early before the Golden Bears clawed back to force a 5-point game, 42-37 with under 15 minutes to go.

South Dakota wouldn't let Concordia get closer than that, and pushed the margin back to double-figures from there with a 9-0 spurt across the next two and a half minutes. Although the USD lead stayed in double-digits the rest of the night, Concordia didn't let the Division I program swell it past 18 (63-45) with 5:28 to go.

Scharlau answered with this third three at that point, and the Golden Bears finished strong as Jacob Everson knocked down a three-pointer with just over two minutes left to bring it back to an 11-point margin.

The game also had a fitting conclusion as Keenan Jones hit a long three-pointer on the break at the buzzer.

Jordan Coblin had nine points on efficient 4-of-6 shooting and distributed six assists and Jacob Shields had eight points.

The returners were led by Cody Carlson and Noah Kannegiesser with seven points each while Max Keefe each had five.

Concordia, who shot 52.3% (23-44) for the game, held USD to 49.0% (25-51) shooting but the Coyotes forced 23 turnovers and committed just nine, leading to a 31-11 scoring margin off turnovers.

Stanley Umude and Tyler Hagedorn each scored 18 points to lead the Coyotes whiel Brandon Armstrong scored 13 points off the bench.