TOPEKA, Kan. – The fifth-seeded Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (22-8) made its highly anticipated NCAA Central Region Tournament debut on Saturday evening, upsetting fourth-seeded Minot State (26-10) 83-71 in the quarterfinals at Lee Arena on the campus of Washburn University.
The Golden Bears finally broke through in their third meeting of the season with the Beavers, knocking Minot State out of the NCAA Tournament after the Beavers ended CSP's NSIC Tournament run in the quarterfinals just over a week prior.
Minot State led by as many as eight in the early minutes of the opening half, but a late push by CSP gave the Golden Bears their first lead at 36-34 with 1:38 left in the half. Minot tied the game shortly after, but a buzzer-beating three pointer from senior guard
Antwan Kimmons gave the Bears a three-point lead at the intermission.
Minot State took a 46-45 lead just over a minute into the second half, but that proved to be the only lead the Beavers would hold as Concordia quickly jumped back on top and eventually expanded its lead to as many as 14 on the way to the 12-point win.
Kimmons was sensational for Concordia, pouring in 30 points on an incredibly efficient 12-16 shooting, including 3-3 from deep, while adding six rebounds and three assists. It was his 10
th game of the season with 30 or more points, and his season scoring average now sits at 25.2 points.
Senior
Marcus Skeete led the Golden Bears in rebounds with nine, also tallying 22 points, four assists, and three steals.
Ian Sluice was a key contributor off the bench for CSP, going 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from beyond the arc for 11 points.
Cade Meyer and
Ben Kopetzki scored seven and six points for CSP, respectively, while
Japannah Kellogg rounded out the starters with four.
The Beavers controlled the pace of play early in the game, taking the lead on their first possession and holding it for nearly 18 minutes. Concordia tied the game at 34 each with 2:25 left in the half and took its first lead roughly 30 seconds later on a jumper from Skeete. The teams jockeyed back and forth in the final minute of the half, but the buzzer beater from Kimmons gave CSP a narrow 45-42 lead at the half.
Minot State recaptured the advantage at 46-45 just over a minute into the second half, but Concordia quickly regained control and maintained a narrow advantage in the following minutes. CSP used a 14-4 scoring run covering nearly three and a half minutes to carve out a 69-56 advantage with 8:45 to play. The Beavers put together a scoring surge of their own to cut the deficit to six on two occasions just a few minutes later, but that proved to be as close as they would come as Concordia pushed its lead back to double digits on the way to a comfortable victory.
The Golden Bear defense made a dramatic shift at halftime, holding the Beavers to 26.9% (7-26) from the field and 2-11 (18.2%) from deep in the second half after Minot State shot 54.8% (17-31) overall and 41.7% (5-12) from deep in the opening half. Concordia shot at a 50% clip or higher in each half, going 16-32 (50%) in the first half and 13-25 (52%) in the second half to finish the game 29-57 (50.9%). The Golden Bears also shot exactly 50% from beyond the arc, knocking down six of their 12 attempts.
Taking care of the ball paid off in a big way for Concordia, with CSP winning the turnover battle 12-6 to outscore the Beavers 13-4 in points off turnovers. The Golden Bears also outscored Minot State 14-3 on fast break opportunities, and Concordia's bench also provided a 14-7 scoring edge over Minot's reserves.
Minot State center Caleb Van De Griend had another outstanding game, leading the Beavers with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
The Golden Bears will now advance to the semifinals where they will face top-seeded and tournament host No. 5 Washburn (27-3) at 7:30 p.m. in Topeka.
The Golden Bears and Ichabods have never faced off in men's basketball, but head coach Matt Fletcher has played a game against the Ichabods in his freshman season as a player at Southwest Minnesota State. The Ichabods won the game 65-58 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Fletcher was a starter for the Mustangs, playing 17 minutes in the contest.
