MINOT, N.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (9-18, 4-17 NSIC) came storming back from a 20-point first half deficit, but saw a potential game-tying three at the buzzer rim out in a 70-67 loss at #23 Minot State (19-7, 14-6 NSIC) on Saturday night.
 
With 4.9 seconds to play, the Golden Bears had the ball in front of their own bench and they were able to execute the inbound play and get off a contested look in the near corner, but the attempt was just a bit too strong as Minot State secured the rebound as time expired to hold off a surging CSP down the stretch.
 
The Beavers led by as many as 20 in the opening half, but they were given a scare by a scrappy Concordia squad as CSP dropped to 3-9 in the all-time series and 0-6 in Minot.
 
CSP freshman Ben Kopetzki had a career night as he led all players with a career-best 24 points on 9-12 shooting and a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc in 34 minutes of action. He added three boards and three assists while clearing 15 points for the fifth game in a row and eighth in the past 11 to bring his season average up to 10.4 per game.
 
The duo of Sean Mathieu and Ian Sluice joined Kopetzki in double figures as Mathieu filled the box score with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals while Sluice tallied 10 points. Mathieu hit an efficient 5-8 from the floor while Sluice went 4-6. Brayden Dailey scored a career-high eight points in 13 minutes off the bench.
 
As a team, Concordia was the more efficient of the two teams as they connected on 45.8% (27-59) from the floor while holding Minot State to 41.3% (26-63). Rebounding proved to be the difference in the game as MiSU turned a 12-5 edge on the offensive glass into a 17-5 advantage in second chance points.
 
Connor Hollenbeck had to work for his team-high 17 points as he hit 6-18 from the floor while adding eight rebounds in the win for the Beavers.
 
The Beavers came out firing with the first seven points of the game and 10 of the first 12 before pushing their advantage to double figures at 18-7 just under seven minutes into the contest. Their lead continued to grow from there, reaching 20 at 38-18 at the 6:24 mark of the first half, before the Golden Bears started to close the gap. CSP responded with a 10-2 burst of their own to trim it to a dozen before shaving another point off the deficit with a late Will Boser three to make it 44-33 in favor of Minot State at the half.
 
The margin was back to single digits as Kopetzki opened the second half with a three, but Minot State answered with nine of 11 points a few minutes later to push their lead back to 15 at 55-40 with 14:32 to play.
 
With the lead still at 15 at 57-42, the Golden Bears once again showed their resilience as they rattled off 10 straight points to make it a two-possession game at the midway point of the half at 57-52. Another burst of three straight buckets near the five-minute mark further closed the gap to just two at 63-61, setting up a dramatic finish. The two teams traded buckets over the next few minutes with the Golden Bears possessing the ball three times with a chance to tie the game, including twice in the final minute of play, but they were unable to convert as the Beavers escaped with a 70-67 win.
 
The Golden Bears close out the regular season next Saturday on Senior Day as they host St. Cloud State at 5:30 p.m.