ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-7) fell just short in a tight contest on Sunday afternoon as St. Cloud State (5-5) claimed a 77-73 win at Gangelhoff Center.
 
While the shooting percentages dropped in the second game of the weekend, the energy remained high as the Huskies eked out a victory in back and forth contest. SCSU improved to 23-7 in the all-time series, claiming their ninth win in the past 11 meetings.
 
Marcus Skeete was a force down low for the Golden Bears as he matched his career best with 22 points while pulling down a career-high 13 boards for his first double-double. The freshman added four assists and a pair of steals while hitting 9-14 from the floor and 2-2 from deep. He finished the weekend with 18.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals in a massive 38.0 minutes per game.
 
Caden Hoffman added a career day of his own as he knocked down 6-12 from beyond the arc while dishing out four assists. Carlos Barela chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and four assists while Keenan Jones put up eight points off the bench.
 
Anthony Roberts once again paced the Huskies with 27 points and nine rebounds in the win. Caleb Donaldson and Josh Tomasi joined him in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
 
The Golden Bears shot 44.1% (26-59) from the field and 32.3% (10-31) from three-point range compared to 44.6% (25-56) and 35.0% (7-20), respectively for the Huskies. Missed free throws plagued both teams as CSP finished at 61.1% (11-18) and SCSU finished at 69.0% (20-29).
 
The Huskies opened the scoring with a quick five points and remained out front by that same margin at 9-4 before the Golden Bears knocked down back-to-back threes to take the lead. Hoffman extended the lead to four at 19-15 with 11:27 to play in the first half with threes on two straight possessions before the margin shrunk back down to one possession over the next few minutes. A 7-2 run sparked by a pair of Skeete buckets gave Concordia their largest lead of the game at 31-26 with 4:27 left before the break, but seven straight the other way put St. Cloud State back in front. The Huskies held onto a slim lead heading into the break as they led 38-36 after 20 minutes of play.
 
Hoffman picked up where he left off in the first with a three just eight seconds into the second half to give CSP a 39-38 lead, but that proved to be their final lead of the game. The Huskies rattled off a 13-4 run to claim a 51-43 lead before CSP answered back with six of eight to trim the deficit down to four at the 14:13 mark. SCSU was back on the attacked with another 8-1 burst to extend their lead to double figures at 61-50, but the Golden Bears once again showed their toughness as they made things interesting down the stretch. Still trailing by 10 at 71-61 with 4:26 left on the clock, Concordia hunkered down on the defensive end while scoring eight straight to pull within two points at 71-69 with 1:35 to play.
 
St. Cloud State was able to get some big buckets when they needed it over the final minute of play to hold off the hard charging Golden Bears. Carlos Barela answered SCSU buckets with a pair of free throws at the 55 second mark and again at the 18 second mark before CSP sent Caleb Donaldson to the line with 13 ticks left. Donaldson left the door open with a pair of missed free throws, but Ryan Bagley pulled down a huge offensive board before drawing a foul and knocking down a pair at the line to close it out.
 
The Golden Bears are scheduled to remain at home next weekend as they host Upper Iowa on Friday and Saturday.