ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (12-3, 7-2 NSIC) capped off a perfect road trip on Saturday evening with a 78-75 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win over Northern State (1-13, 0-8 NSIC) at Wachs Arena.
The win was just Concordia's second victory ever in Aberdeen, S.D., and the first since January 31, 2015. The win also broke a nine-game losing streak against the Wolves, with the Golden Bears now holding an 8-34 all-time record against Northern State.
The Golden Bears found themselves in an 18-6 hole early in the first half, but battled back to make it a four-point game at 42-38 at the intermission. The Golden Bears regained the lead early in the second half and held it for the remainder of the game. Northern State inbounded the ball trailing by three with under four seconds to play, but the would-be game tying shot did not fall for the Wolves as the Bears hung on for the close win.
Antwan Kimmons finished as the game's scoring leader once again, tallying 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds, a game-high seven assists, and a steal.
Guard
Ben Kopetzki also shined, pouring in 20 points on an extremely efficient shooting line of 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. The sophomore was also active in other areas, adding seven rebounds and five assists. Senior
Marcus Skeete was the only other Golden Bear in double figures with 13 points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Cade Meyer chipped in nine points with seven rebounds while junior
Reid Patterson added nine points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Golden Bears started the game slowly, quickly facing a 12-point deficit at 18-6 less than eight minutes into the game. Concordia's offense finally found a spark at that point, exploding for 15 straight points with five three pointers, including two each from Patterson and Kopetzki and one from sophomore guard
Will Boser, to take their first lead at 21-18. CSP clung to a narrow advantage for the following few possessions, but the Wolves put together a 13-5 run of their own to stake a 34-28 lead with 3:35 remaining in the half. Northern State looked poised to take a six-point edge into halftime, but a buzzer-beating jumper from Skeete made it 42-38 at the intermission.
CSP struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, connecting on just 12-of-37 (32.4%) attempts from the field while Northern State was 17-of-33 (51.5%). The Wolves also had a 12-8 edge in assists in the half, but the Golden Bears were the better team on the glass with a 24-20 advantage in rebounds.
The Golden Bears chipped away at the NSU lead in the early minutes of the second half, recapturing the lead for what proved to be the final time on a three pointer by Kopetzki that made it 51-50 with 14:50 on the clock. The Wolves kept the contest close throughout the remainder of the half, with the Golden Bear advantage maxing out at six points on four separate occasions. Following a pair of clutch free throws from Kimmons that made it 78-75, the Wolves inbounded the ball with under four seconds on the clock with a chance to tie the game. Northern State guard James Glenn managed to get a three-point attempt off just before the buzzer, but he left the ball just short with the ball hitting the front of the hoop as time expired to seal Concordia's three-point win.
For the game, the Golden Bears finished 27-of-66 (40.9%) from the field and 12-of-28 (42.9%) from beyond the arc while Northern State was 30-of-66 (45.5%) overall and 7-of-21 (33.3%) from deep. The Wolves also finished with a 17-15 edge in assists, but the Bears managed to outrebound them 43-41.
The Wolves were led by Devon Brooke with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
The Golden Bears will return to the friendly confines of the Gangelhoff Center next week, hosting St. Cloud State (9-7, 5-3 NSIC) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
