ST. PAUL, Minn.  – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (5-2, 0-1 NSIC) opened Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play at the Gangelhoff Center on Tuesday evening, falling to Winona State (5-1, 1-0 NSIC) 83-73.

The Golden Bears were paced by senior guard Antwan Kimmons, who poured in a game-high 29 points on 9-18 shooting from the field (50.0%) and added 12 rebounds, seven assists, a steal, and a block for his first double-double of the season.

Marcus Skeete was the only other Golden Bear in double figures with 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block. Cade Meyer finished with nine points on 4-7 shooting from the field, adding six rebounds, and a steal. Reid Patterson led the Concordia bench with nine points and two rebounds.

As a unit, Concordia had its worst shooting night of the season so far, knocking down just 22 of 64 attempts (34.4%) from the field and going 7-35 from beyond the arc (20.0%). The Warriors fared only slightly better, going 28-24 (43.8%) overall and 5-22 from deep (22.7%). Concordia was the more effective team from the charity stripe, making 22-of-25 (88.0%) while WSU was 22-of-29 (75.9%). Despite being out-rebounded 44-39, the Golden Bears held a 16-11 advantage in second chance points.

Both teams spent time with the lead in the opening half with CSP holding the advantage for 6:15 of game time while Winona State spent 11:31 in the driver's seat. Neither team held a particularly large lead at any point, with the Bears leading by five at their peak and the Warriors maxing out at a seven-point lead. WSU held a 25-19 advantage with just over four minutes remaining in the half, but the Golden Bears closed the half on an 11-5 run to trail by a single point at the intermission.

Concordia came out strong in the second half, putting together an early 10-4 run to take a 39-34 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining. That lead proved to be short lived, as Winona State quickly recaptured the advantage and pushed it as high as nine in the following minutes. The Golden Bears managed to pull within three at 66-63 with 4:14 on the clock, but that proved to be as close as they would come with the Warriors capitalizing on their frequent trips to the charity stripe down the stretch, going 11-12 from the free throw line in the final four minutes to win the game by double digits.

Winona State was led by Luke Haertle with 24 points and eight rebounds while Isaiah Thompson registered a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double for the Warriors. 

The Golden Bears will be idle over Thanksgiving weekend, returning to NSIC action on Friday, December 6 at the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.).