ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears (1-8, 0-5 NSIC) dropped a tight battle with Upper Iowa (6-5, 4-3 NSIC) on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center by a score of 84-76.
 
Trailing by 17 points midway through the second half, the Golden Bears fought their way back to within four in the final few minutes, but they were unable to complete the comeback as the Peacocks hung on for the win. CSP fell to 15-19 in the all-time series with UIU as the Peacocks won their 10^th in 16 meetings in St. Paul.
 
The Golden Bears were the far more efficient squad in the contest as they knocked down 46.2% (30-65) from the floor and 38.9% (7-18) from deep while holding the Peacocks to just 40.3% (31-77) and 27.8% (5-18), respectively. Upper Iowa did hold an edge at the free throw line, however as they hit 17-20 (85.0%) compared to 9-13 (69.2%) for Concordia.
 
Turnovers played a major role as UIU turned 20 CSP turnovers into 21 points while Concordia turned 10 Upper Iowa turnovers into seven points. The Peacocks also held a slim rebounding edge at 43-40, including a 17-10 edge on the offensive glass. Fastbreak points also favored UIU as they had a 21-10 advantage.
 
Freshman Marcus Skeete made it back-to-back 20-10 performances as he matched his career best with 22 points to go along with 10 boards. Skeete hit 10-15 from the floor and blocked a pair of shots in 32 minutes.
 
Carlos Barela matched Skeete's scoring total with 22 points on 8-15 shooting while adding three rebounds and two assists. Jax Madson chipped in 11 points and five rebounds while hitting 3-3 from three-point range and Keenan Jones also hit 3-3 from deep for nine points.
 
Four of Upper Iowa's five starters scored at least 14 points in the win as Dylan Jones led the way with 16 points on 6-11 shooting.
 
After seeing the Peacocks score the first four points of the game, CSP rattled off an extended 18-8 run to build their largest lead of the game. With the lead still at six at 20-14, Upper Iowa took control with a run of their own as they scored nine in a row to take a 23-20 lead with 6:48 left in the half. That proved to be the first of six lead changes throughout the rest of the half as an 8-3 run before the horn gave UIU a 39-35 lead at the break.
 
The run carried over into the second half as a burst of eight straight points extended the lead to double digits at 47-35.  The lead grew to as many as 17 at 60-43 with 12:41 left on the clock, but as has been the case throughout the year, the Golden Bears showed their toughness as they battled to make things interesting. Over the next five minutes, Concordia delivered a 16-5 run to pull within six at 68-62 before chopping it all the way down to four at 74-70 with 3:45 to play. The Golden Bears had several chances to trim it back to a one possession game down the stretch, but they were unable to get the big shot to fall as Upper Iowa held on for an 84-76 win.
 
The two teams return to action tomorrow afternoon at Gangelhoff Center with a 2 p.m. tip-off.