SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (8-17, 6-13 NSIC) saw Augustana (13-12, 9-10 NSIC) pull away on Friday night at Sanford Pentagon in an 86-59 loss.
The red hot Golden Bears saw their four-game winning streak snapped on the road as the Vikings outscored CSP 54-30 over the final 21:34 of the night. Augie made it 17 wins in 18 contests in Sioux Falls between the two schools as Concordia dropped to 6-29 in the all-time series.
Augustana led for 36 of 40 minutes on the night as they doubled up CSP in points in the paint at 40-20 and used a 17-9 edge in forced turnovers to finish with a 25-5 advantage in points off turnovers. Augie also held a 38-20 rebounding advantage, including a 12-1 edge on the offensive glass. On the flip side, the Golden Bears managed a 10-6 edge in fastbreak points as well as a 9-3 edge in made threes and a 36.0%-31.3% edge from beyond the arc.
Concordia's two top scorers led the way on the night as
Marcus Skeete paced the squad with 16 points and four assists while
Antwan Kimmons added 15 points and four boards. Skeete knocked down 6-11 from the floor and Kimmons hit 7-11.
Ian Sluice hit 3-5 from three-point range to finish with nine points off the bench while
Cal Greene hit 2-3 from deep for six points.
Isaac Fink, who missed the first meeting of the year, led Augustana with 22 points and eight rebounds as he hit 7-13 from the field and 6-7 from the free throw line in the win.
The Vikings built an early advantage with an 8-0 run to take a 10-2 lead before pushing it to double figures at 15-4. After a basket on each end of the court, the Golden Bears flipped the script with 12 straight points to jump in front 18-17 just past the midway point of the opening half. Augie regained control, however, as they retook the lead with a layup and a pair of free throws. The lead remained at three at 32-29 with 1:34 left in the half before Augustana closed it out strong with a 7-0 run to extend it back to double digits at 39-29.
After a quick three to start the second half made it a 10-9, CSP responded with seven of the next nine to close the gap to 44-36 with 16:20 to play. That would be all the closer they would get as the Vikings put it out of reach with an 11-0 burst ballooning the lead to 19 three and a half minutes later. The Golden Bears had it back down to a dozen at 59-47 at the 9:27 mark before the margin reached 20 following another 8-0 run. The Augustana lead grew to as many as 28 before settling in at a final margin of 27 at 86-59.
Concordia heads to Nebraska tomorrow as they take on Wayne State. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
