ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (2-16, 1-10 NSIC) fought their way to a 98-90 overtime victory over Bemidji State (6-9, 3-8 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at Gangelhoff Center.
The Golden Bears claimed their first NSIC victory under head coach
Matt Fletcher as they erased an eight point deficit with 7:38 to play to force overtime before dominating the extra session to come out on top. CSP won their 16
th in the last 25 meetings with the Beavers to move to 17-19 in the all-time series and 12-6 on their home court.
Concordia's starting five carried the load in the team's biggest offensive outburst as they combined for 94 of the team's season-best 98 points on the night with all five scoring at least 13. The team's 98 points were the most since surpassing triple digits in a 107-91 win against St. Cloud State on Jan. 18, 2019. CSP connected on a season-high 53.2% (33-62) from the floor while they hit 38.5% (10-26) from deep and 81.5% (22-27) from the free throw line.
Elijah Ormiston and
Jack Stensgard were especially effective as the duo combined for 51 points. Ormiston collected his fifth consecutive game with 20+ points and second double-double of the year with 26 points and a career-best 13 boards while Stensgard scored a career-high 25 points to go along with six assists and three boards. Ormiston knocked down 10-18 from the field while Stensgard hit 9-12 overall and 4-7 from deep. Ormiston caught fire after the break as he scored all of his 26 points in the second half and overtime while Stensgard scored 12 of his 25 in the final minute of regulation and overtime, including the first seven for CSP in the extra session.
Marcus Skeete filled the stat sheet with 16 points, six assists and six rebounds on 7-11 shooting while
Jacob Everson had 14 points, five boards and four assists and
Caden Hoffman had 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Defensively, the Golden Bears held Bemidji State to 38.6% (34-88) shooting and 34.4% (11-32) from beyond the arc in the win. The big gap in shooting efficiency helped Concordia overcome a 25-7 deficit on the offensive glass and 22-5 in second chance points on the night.
Derek Thompson and Travis Bianco both picked up double-doubles for Bemidji State as Thompson led the way with 22 points and 11 boards while Bianco finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Concordia set the tone from the tip-off as they scored the first five points of the game and 11 of the first 15 to build an early advantage. The CSP lead fluctuated between one and seven points for much of the rest of the half until a late 6-0 run put BSU in front 35-33, but Everson knocked down a three with 1:45 left on the clock to take a 36-35 advantage into the break.
In the opening eight and a half minutes of the second half, there were five ties and five lead changes as the two teams jostled for the lead. Eventually, the Beavers started to take control as they turned a 50-47 deficit with 12:48 to play into a 60-52 lead five minutes later with a 13-2 run. Still trailing by seven with 5:41 left on the clock, CSP clawed their way back even at 67-67 with nine of 11 points. BSU regained a two possession lead at 74-69 and again at 77-72 with 1:19 to play before another Golden Bear push extended the contest. Hoffman sparked the rally with a pair of free throws with 55 seconds to go before Stensgard converted a crucial and-one with 23 seconds on the clock to force overtime.
Stensgard picked up where he left off in the overtime session as he scored the team's first seven points as a part of a 10-2 run to give the Golden Bears the decisive advantage. That lead would not shrink below six the rest of the way, reaching as many as 10 in the final 30 seconds, as CSP secured a 98-90 win.
The Golden Bears are back on the road next weekend as they travel to UMary and Minot State. The men and women will flip timeslots starting next weekend with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off on Friday night and a 5:30 p.m. tip-off on Saturday for the men.
