While the teams jostled for position in the early minutes, a three-pointer by sophomore Isaiah Thomas (right, Fridley, Minn.) but Concordia ahead 10-9 for their first lead. It was the first of four three-pointers in the opening half for Thomas.
But the Tommies rallied for 10 unanswered points over the next three-plus minutes of play and would build their first half lead up to 10-points, 25-15 and 27-17 in the seven and a half minute range of the half.
UST came out shooting strong, hitting seven of their first eight shots from the floor while Concordia struggled to get going from the field.
Trailing 29-19 with 5:46 to play in the half, Thomas dropped in a three-pointer to spark Concordia. He would score 11 of his 14 points in the half in the final six minutes. And with a five point deficit with under a minute to go, Thomas scored the final five points of the half, hitting a layup with 42 seconds to play and draining his fourth three of the half with just three seconds to tie the game at 34.
Thomas would lead all scorers at the end of the night with 19 points, hitting 5-10 from three-point range.
In the second half, after trading buckets back and forth for the first four and a half minutes, senior post Dan Vandervieren (Eden Prairie, Minn.) converted a layup on a pass from junior guard Peter Olafeso (left, St. Paul, Minn.) to give Concordia their first lead since it was 10-9 in the first half.
With a 41-39 edge and 15:26 to play, the margin stayed within five points either way until 5:59 when Tyler Nicolai delivered a three-pointer for the Tommies to push their lead to six.
It was in the midst of a 13-2 UST run that spanned four and a half minutes and at the end of it UST had a 70-59 advantage with just 3:53 remaining.
The Golden Bears were not done, though, as senior Courtney Tyler (Eagan, Minn.) snapped the run with a layup in traffic and was fouled, converting the three-point play. Tyler and Vandervieren each led Concordia's bench with eight points; Tyler also delivering five assists.
Concordia had cut the deficit to six three times with enough time to still complete the comeback, but weren't able to convert baskets on offense.
P.Olafeso led Concordia on the glass with a game-high nine rebounds, scoring 12 points and dishing four assists. He filled the stat sheet with two blocks and two steals, as well. Twin brother, Kenny Olafeso (right), finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists, thre steals and a block. Five of his seven boards were on the offensive glass. The duo each played 33 minutes for Concordia.
The Golden Bears did hold the final rebound advantage, 33-30 including a 14-9 edge on the offensive glass leading to a 14-7 scoring margin on second chances. And while they committed one more turnover than UST (15-14), CU turned theirs into 24 points while limiting UST to just 15 points off miscues.
The teams shot nearly identical from three-point range as CU hit 7-15 and UST hit 7-14; but the Tommies were decisively better from the floor overall, converting 52.7% (29-55) while holding Concordia to 42.9% (24-56) shooting. Concordia did get to the foul line eight more times, scoring six more points at the line as both teams shot well from the stripe (UST 84.6% in 13 attempts; CU 81.0% in 21 attempts).
UST was led by Alex Healy with 16 points as he hit 6-10 from the floor and 2-4 from long range. They had four players in double-figures overall, with Anders Halverson scoring 14 with a team-high seven rebounds and a pair of blocks while Tommy Hannon scored 12 points with six rebounds. Hannon, a center, also displayed nice touch by tying Teddy Archer with five assists.
Concordia is off this weekend, but returns to play on November 26-27 when they co-host the 2010 Radisson Roseville Thanksgiving Classic at Gangelhoff Center with the women's team. Concordia men play at 7:00 p.m. both nights, against Academy of Art (Calif.) and Valley City State (N.D.); while they'll crossover with Upper Iowa who plays the same teams on opposite nights at 5:00 p.m.
Photos courtesy: Trevor Saylor
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