SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The third-seeded Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (19-10) saw its 2025-26 campaign come to a close on Sunday evening as it fell to sixth-seeded Minnesota Duluth (19-11) 75-71 in the quarterfinals of the NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sanford Pentagon.

The Golden Bears got off to a hot start in the opening half, with sophomore Owen Carlson burying a pair of triples in the game's first four minutes to put CSP up 8-3. The Golden Bears maintained a narrow advantage for most of the first half, but the Bulldogs used a three pointer to take their first lead at 24-23 with just over five minutes on the clock. Five ties and four lead changes followed in the final minutes of the half, but it was UMD carrying a 40-36 lead at the half.

Senior Reid Patterson heated up after the break, scoring nine of CSP's first 12 points in the second half to put CSP back in front at 48-46. Patterson finished the game with 14 points on 6-11 shooting, with 12 of his points coming in the second half.

The Concordia lead continued to grow in the following minutes, reaching a game-high nine points when Carlson hit another three-pointer to cap off a 12-3 scoring run by CSP and put the Bears up 58-49 with 12:08 to play. For the game, Carlson finished 6-11 from the field and 5-9 from the field to lead the Bears with 19 points, while also tying for the team lead with seven rebounds.

The Golden Bears remained in control as they continued to lead through the next six minutes of play, holding a 68-61 advantage with 6:51 remaining in regulation. Concordia went ice cold at that point, as the Bulldogs constructed a 14-3 scoring run lasting over six minutes to grab a late lead and hang on for the win.

Senior Sam West and junior Ben Kopetzki scored 15 points each for Concordia, with Kopetzki shooting 6-14 and West finishing 5-11. West added six rebounds, four assists, and three steals, and Kopetzki tallied seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Marcus Burks and Chet Kloss added six and two points, respectively, to round out the scoring for CSP.

Concordia finished the game 26-57 (45.6%) from the field and 8-24 (33.3%) from beyond the arc, while Minnesota Duluth was 26-62 (41.9%) overall and 8-22 (36.4%) from deep. The Bulldogs used a decisive advantage on the glass to escape with the win, outrebounding CSP 41-31, including a 14-6 edge in offensive boards, to outscore the Bears 11-5 in second chance points.   

It marks the second consecutive season the Golden Bears have fallen in the quarterfinals of the tournament, as CSP dropped a 94-85 decision to Minot State in the same round a year ago.

For the Bulldogs, Kole Hanson led the way on offense with 16 points while Caleb Siwek and Matt Thompson added 13 points and eight rebounds each.