MINOT, N.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (2-18, 1-12 NSIC) ran into a hot-shooting Minot State (12-4, 6-4 NSIC) in a 98-54 loss on Saturday night on the road.
 
The Beavers buried 59.1% (39-66) of their shots on the night, including 59 points on a 61.8% (21-34) shooting after the break, as the Golden Bears fell to 2-7 in the all-time series and 0-5 in Minot.
 
Marcus Skeete led the way for the Golden Bears on the night as he matched Minot State's Melvin Newbern with a game-high 20 points on 5-8 shooting, 3-4 from deep and 7-8 from the free throw line. Skeete chipped in eight boards, three steals and two assists in his 27 minutes of work.
 
Reid Patterson added seven points while Jacob Everson had six points.
 
In addition to their efficient shooting, MiSU used a 60-14 edge in points in the paint as well as a 25-6 edge in points off turnovers in the win.
 
Newbern paced the Beavers with 20 points, eight rebounds and three steals as he was one of four Minot State starters to score at least 16 points. Max Cody added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in the contest.
 
After falling behind 5-3 in the opening minutes, CSP rattled off eight of the next 10 points to build an 11-7 edge four and a half minutes in. That lead grew to as many as six at 15-9 at the 14:20 mark before a 19-5 run in favor of the Beavers gave MiSU a 28-20 lead. Concordia trimmed it to two with threes from Hoffman and Skeete, but a 9-0 run for Minot State extended their advantage to double figures. Two late buckets pushed it to 41-28 at the break.
 
The two teams traded baskets to open the second half as the Golden Bears remained within 11 at 45-34, but a big 23-3 run put it out of reach. The lead remained comfortably on the side of Minot State the rest of the way as they pushed it to as many as 45 before closing out the 98-54 win.
 
Concordia returns home next weekend as they play host to Northern State and MSU Moorhead.