SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (9-14, 4-13 NSIC) saw their road upset bid fall just short in a 92-87 loss at Augustana (14-8, 9-7 NSIC) on Saturday night at Elmen Center.
 
CSP led by as many as eight in the second as they looked to claim just their second win in 18 trips to Augustana, but the Vikings turned the tide to drop the Golden Bears dropped to 6-31 in the all-time series.
 
The Golden Bears continued to light it up from beyond the arc as they hit 13 threes on the night, marking the fifth consecutive game in double digits from deep. Their 13 made three matched their fourth highest total on the year.
 
Concordia's starting five all reached double figures in scoring as the quintet combined for 79 of the 87 points in the loss. Reid Patterson cleared 20+ points for the second night in a row and third time this season as he led the team with 22 points and 10 rebounds, registering his first career double-double. He hit 7-15 from the floor, 4-11 from three-point range and 4-4 from the line.
 
Ian Sluice set a new career high in scoring as he added 18 points on 7-14 shooting and 4-10 from beyond the arc while adding four boards and four assists in the game. Ben Kopetzki followed with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists, knocking down 6-10 from the floor.
 
Marcus Skeete chipped in 13 points, five rebounds and four assists while Sean Mathieu compiled 10 points, five boards and three assists.
 
The Vikings took advantage of their size advantage as they tallied a 42-24 edge in points in the paint to go along with a 41-32 rebounding edge in the win. Isaac Fink paced Augustana for the second meeting in a row as he led all players with 35 points on 13-27 shooting, bringing his season total to 77 points in the two meetings.
 
CSP found themselves in an early hole as the Vikings scored the first 10 points of the contest, but they quickly turned things around with back-to-back-to-back threes to trim the deficit to one. Concordia's first five field goals came from beyond the arc before a Kopetzki free throw and layup broke the streak while giving the Golden Bears their first lead of the night at 18-16. The Vikings regained the lead at 24-23, but Concordia was right back in front as they went on an 8-1 run to build their largest lead of the half at 31-25 with 7:55 to go. With the lead still at five at 37-32 with 4:12 on the clock, Augustana regained the lead with eight points in a row. The lead changed hands several more times before the break, seven times in total in the half, as a late Sluice three gave Concordia a 44-43 lead after 20 minutes of play.
 
After the jostling for the lead continued in the opening minutes of the second half, Patterson scored seven straight points to spark a 9-0 run as the Golden Bears took their largest lead of the night at 61-53 with 13:48 left to play. The Vikings slowly chipped away from there, however, as they were back within one at 67-66 midway through the half before a 7-0 burst put Augie in front 73-70 at the 7:31 mark. A Sluice three tied it back up, but the Golden Bears would not lead the rest of the contest. The Viking lead hovered between one and two possessions as they led by as many as six with 2:22 to play at 90-84 before CSP gave themselves several chances to erase that deficit. Skeete knocked down a three at the 2:01 mark to make it a three-point game and Concordia had a pair of attempts to tie it up, but they couldn't get one to fall as Augustana held on for the 92-87 win.
 
The Golden Bears return home next weekend as they host Sioux Falls on Friday and Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday.