OGDEN, Utah – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team fell to Weber State by a score of 101-74 in their exhibition finale on Thursday night.
For the second time this week, the Golden Bears outscored a Division I opponent in the second half as they caught fire after the break to outscore the Wildcats 53-45 in the final 20 minutes. In the final period, CSP connected on 52.6% (20-38) from the floor and 52.9% (9-17) from beyond the arc.
Overall, Concordia finished at 39.7% (27-68) shooting and 36.4% (12-33) from deep while Weber State was an efficient 56.5% (39-69) from the floor and 40.0% (8-20) from three-point range on the night. Both teams utilized their benches as CSP tallied 39 points from their reserves while WSU edged them with 42.
Freshmen
Reid Patterson and
Ian Sluice each knocked three three-pointers off the bench as Patterson scored 11 points on 4-5 shooting while Sluice scored nine on 3-5 from deep.
Marcus Skeete paced the Golden Bears with 15 points, seven boards and three steals in 23 minutes of action while
Elijah Ormiston connected on 5-9 from the floor to finish with a dozen points.
Webere State had six different players score between 10 and 13 points, led by 13 from JJ Overton and Seikou Sisoho Jawara, while former Golden Bear Cody Carlson scored 11 points on 5-5 shooting in 11 minutes of action.
The Wildcats got off to a flying start with the first 15 points of the game as a part of a 22-1 run over the opening 3:40. Concordia stemmed the tide over the next five and a half minutes as they matched WSU during an 11-11 run to make it 33-12 with 10:49 left in the half. Weber State turned it on for the rest of the half as they closed on an extended 23-9 run to take a 56-21 lead into the locker room.
The Golden Bears completely changed the tone in the second half as they matched Weber State's firepower down the stretch. After the Wildcats built their largest lead of the night at 70-29 with 15:29 to play, Concordia responded with a 16-9 run to turn the momentum in their favor. After five straight for WSU, Skeete and Patterson keyed another 20-12 burst to continue the surge. CSP finished off their strong second half run with the last seven points of the night to bring it to the final score of 101-74.
The Golden Bears kick off the regular season at home in the DoubleTree by Hilton Roseville Minneapolis Classic. CSP will host Newman on Friday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. and Rogers State on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m.
