ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (17-6, 12-5 NSIC) got back in the win column on Thursday evening, outlasting Sioux Falls (12-11, 8-9 NSIC) 108-106 in a double overtime thriller at the Gangelhoff Center.
The win secured the season sweep of USF for the Golden Bears, with Concordia winning the prior meeting 97-69 in Sioux Falls in December. CSP now holds a 7-18 all-time record against USF, with Concordia winning three of the last five matchups. It was Concordia's first double overtime game since February 26, 2020 when it lost to Minnesota Duluth 92-87 in the first round of the NSIC Tournament.
After working out to an early double-digit lead in the first half, the Golden Bears maintained the advantage throughout the half, leading 45-26 at halftime. The Cougars couldn't miss in the second half, erasing a 20-point deficit to send the game to overtime. A winner still couldn't be decided after the first overtime period, and the game headed to double overtime tied at 97. Tied at 106-106 late in double overtime, an alley-oop from Jappannah Kellogg with just two seconds left on the clock sealed the win for Concordia.
Senior forward
Japannah Kellogg played the hero for Concordia, throwing down the game-winning alley-oop with an assist from
Ben Kopetzki with two seconds remaining in double overtime. He finished with a season-high 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field, adding two rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
Antwan Kimmons had his eighth game of the season with 30 or more points, scoring 31 on 9-of-19 shooting from the field while adding seven rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block.
Cade Meyer finished with his first double-double of the season, scoring 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking a game-high four shots.
Marcus Skeete also finished the game in double figures, scoring 14 points with five rebounds in 23 minutes before exiting with an injury.
Reid Patterson provided a spark off the bench on a crucial moment for Concordia, knocking down a pair of three pointers in double overtime for six points in the game.
Concordia came out hot in the opening half, scoring the game's first five points and quickly working out to a 13-2 lead less than five minutes into the game. The CSP advantage continued to grow throughout the half, peaking at 20 points at 43-23 with 1:30 on the clock before the Bears took a 45-26 lead into the intermission.
The Golden Bears shot the ball well in the first half, knocking down 17 of their 33 attempts from the field (51.5%) while limiting the Cougars to just 10-of-34 from the field (29.4%). CSP dominated in the paint, outscoring USF 30-10 in the lane in the first half.
The Cougars quickly flipped the script early in the second half, opening the half on a 17-8 run spanning nearly six minutes to cut the deficit to 10 at 53-43. USF continued to shoot lights out and chip away at the deficit, eventually taking its first lead of the night at 72-71 with 6:20 left in regulation. The Cougars' lead reached as many as seven points with 2:20 on the clock, but the Golden Bears closed regulation on a 10-3 run and
Antwan Kimmons sunk a layup with five seconds on the clock to tie the game and eventually send it to overtime tied at 88-88.
The Cougars started the first overtime period 0-for-7 from the field and the Golden Bears took advantage, going on an 8-1 scoring run to carve out a 96-89 lead with 2:45 on the clock. Sioux Falls responded and closed out the period on an 8-1 run of their own to send the game to a second overtime tied at 97 each.
Each team spent over a minute with the lead in the second overtime period, but neither team led by more than two points at any time. A Sioux Falls free throw with 19 seconds remaining tied the game at 106 each, but Kellogg iced the game for Concordia with an alley-oop with just 2 seconds remaining.
For the game, Concordia connected on 41 of its 78 attempts (52.6%) from the field while Sioux Falls was 38-of-89 (42.7%). USF had a narrow edge in both rebounds (49-48) and assists (22-21), but the Golden Bears dominated down low, outscoring the Cougars 74-38 in the painted area.
Creighton Morisch was outstanding for the Cougars, logging a triple-double with 22 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists.
The Golden Bears will cap off the weekend with a game at Wayne State (14-9, 8-9 NSIC) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
