ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (8-18, 3-17 NSIC) dropped a hard fought battle on Senior Night in an 83-78 loss to Augustana (21-8, 13-7 NSIC) at Gangelhoff Center on Saturday night.
It was a back and forth game all night as the Golden Bears kept pace with the Vikings throughout the night but were unable to come out on top as Augie made it 15 straight wins in the all-time series as CSP fell to 5-22 in the all-time series.
CSP scored an impressive 47 points on 68.2% (15-22) from the floor in the second half to boost their mark for the game to 56.3% (27-48), but it wasn't enough as turnovers and fast break scoring proved to be a difference maker. Augustana forced 16 CSP turnovers and turned them into 18 points while the Golden Bears used 10 Augie turnovers to score 13 points. The Vikings also held a 13-2 edge in fast break points as well as a 28-16 edge in bench scoring.
On Senior Night, the Concordia quintet of seniors combined for 62 of the team's 78 points, led by 21 points apiece from
Bryndan Matthews and
Isaiah McKay.
Matthews came out firing with 11 points in the first eight minutes of the game before finishing the night 9-15 from the field to go along with eight boards and five assists. The Eagan native moved within 18 points of Craig Heiman's program record of 1,768 career points.
McKay was even more efficient as he knocked down 6-9 overall, 3-4 from three-point range and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Fellow senior
Evan Wesenberg also reached double figures in scoring with a season-best 10 points on 3-4 shooting in his 18 minutes of work.
Matt Cartwright played the role of primary scorer for the Vikings in the win as the guard connected on 8-18 shooting and 5-13 from beyond the arc to lead all players with 28 points on the night. AJ Plitzuweit added 14 points while Tyler Riemersma chipped in 13 points.
Concordia could not have gotten off to a much better start as they scored the first five points of the game before building a 9-1 lead just under five minutes in. The run continued for CSP as their advantage reached a game-high 13 at 16-3 a few minutes and remained in double digits at 19-7. It was all Augie for the rest of the half as they put up a massive 16-1 run to take the lead at 23-20 at the 6:22 mark. The run continued as the Vikings scored 19 of the next 28 points to bring the run to 35-10 overall before a late bucket for CSP cut it to 42-31 at the half.
The late bucket to end the first half kicked off a 12-0 run for the Golden Bears to trim the margin to a point at 42-41 early in the second half. Augustana would not relinquish the lead, however, as they pushed their lead back to nine at 56-47 following a 14-6 run. CSP fought their way back in it with nine of the next 11, but once again Augie managed to stem the tide. Augustana looked to be in control as they regained a comfortable lead at 70-60 and against at 72-62 with five minutes to play, but Concordia would not go away as they fought back one more time. CSP responded with five points in a row to cut the deficit in half before pulling to within two at 80-78 in the final minute following another 7-2 burst, but a late layup and a free throw put the game out of reach for the Vikings.
Concordia closes out the regular season on the road next weekend as they travel to Winona State on Friday and Upper Iowa on Saturday.
