SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball (6-8, 4-6 NSIC) took its first loss of the calendar year, falling 74-59 on Saturday evening to NSIC leader Sioux Falls (13-3, 9-1 NSIC) at Stewart Center.

The Golden Bears split the first two of a four game road stretch and next head to St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth next Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Junior forward Cody Carlson was one of three Golden Bears with 13 points, adding nine rebounds and a pair of blocked shots while making 5-of-8 from the field.

The Golden Bears went into halftime tied at 24 with the Cougars, holding USF to just 31.0 percent (9-29) shooting.

In the second half, when it appeared the Cougars were picking up momentum, Concordia junior guard Lee Higgins converted a four point play after connecting on a corner three-pointer to tie the game at 32 with 15:31 to play. Higgins matched Carlson's 13 points and two blocked shots, coming on 4-of-7 shooting including 2-of-4 from three-point range.

It was the last tie of the night as the Cougars scored the next seven points while opening up a 16-2 scoring run over the next four and a half minutes.

Concordia stayed within reach, not letting the Cougars' lead swell past 16, 55-39 with 8:33 to play.

A pair of rallies gave Concordia life down the stretch, as Higgins scored a pair of buckets followed by a Perion Little jumper to bring the margin back to 10 just a minute later. Little joined Higgins and Carlson with 13 points including 3-of-6 from three-point range and 5-of-9 from the field.

After USF built it back to a 15-point margin (60-45) with just over six minutes to go, Concordia made another spurt with seven straight points to bring it back to single digits with just over four minutes to play trailing 60-52.

But down the stretch, Concordia shot 3-of-8 from the field while Sioux Falls was 3-of-4 from the field and 8-of-10 from the foul line to protect its lead.

Five Cougars reached double-figures led by Chase Grinde's 16 points while Austin Slater added 11 points and nine rebounds.

USF's shooting recovered in the second half as the Cougars stopped settling on the perimeter. After going 1-of-9 from the arc in the first half against CSP's road defense, Sioux Falls attempted just two second half three-pointers and converted 64.3 percent (18-28) from the field after the break to finish the night at 47.4 percent (27-57).

CSP held USF to just 18.2 percent (2-11) three-point shooting overall, but the Cougars used a 46-24 scoring advantage in the paint and had a 27-to-11 edge in free throw attempts which led to a +10 scoring margin at the line.