CROOKSTON, Minn. - The Concordia University men's basketball team (11-6, 8-5 NSIC) salvaged a road weekend split, holding off Minnesota, Crookston (6-11, 2-11) with a 70-66 victory at Lysaker Gymnasium on Saturday evening. The game featured eight ties and 14 lead changes, but junior guard Peter Olafeso (St. Paul, Minn.) led CU with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the victory. BOX SCORE
Peter Olafeso scored 48 points in the two games this weekend for Concordia, starting with a 23 point second half effort last night that carried over into his double-double this evening. He made seven of his 10 shots from the floor, drained his only three-point attempt and contributed defensively with four steals in 36 minutes.
While the game featured 22 combined ties and lead changes, it was Peter's brother, Kenny Olafeso (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.) that scored four unanswered points after the media timeout in the second half to tie the game at 47 and put the Golden Bears ahead 49-47 at 8:52 to play in the game.
Defensively, on the next possession, Kenny Olafeso picked a steal from Mike Larsen and set up junior Brent Barz (Johnston, Iowa) for a bucket and three-point play as Barz converted the free throw, sparking the 7-0 run that gave Concordia the lead for the duration of the game.
K.Olafeso finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and made three of his four free throw attempts as well while Barz had 18 points and nine rebounds and shot better at the line, making 8-of-12.
Concordia was able to extend the lead up to nine down the stretch, and UMC never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, although Larry Brown hit a late three-pointer with three seconds left to pull the margin back to two, 68-66 before sophomore Isaiah Thomas (Fridley, Minn.) made two free throws with two seconds to play to give Concordia a two-possession lead, 70-66 as the score held up for the final.
In the first half, Concordia built up an 11-point lead late, as Thomas finished a put-back on his own miss just under four minutes to play to give CU a 33-22 lead.
But the Golden Eagles responded with a 10-0 run to close out the half and fought back to take a 37-35 lead in the opening minutes of the second half to encompass a 15-2 run over nearly eight minutes of play. But the home team couldn't build upon that lead, and never led by more than three points until K.Olafeso's spurt gave CU the lead for good.
The Golden Eagles were led by Brown with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists but he committed seven of UMC's 13 turnovers.
Concordia's offense, meanwhile, committed only nine turnovers for the night leading.
The Golden Bears also beat up the Golden Eagles physically down low on the stat sheet, with a 37-32 rebounding advantage and they attempted nearly double UMC's free throws. Concordia made 20-31 at the stripe while holding the Golden Eagles made 12 of their 16.
Concordia improves to 11-6 overall and 8-5 in the NSIC as they return home next weekend to face Augustana (12-5, 9-4) and Wayne State (9-8, 5-8). Friday night's Augustana game is a Spring Fever promotion while Saturday night against Wayne State is the Golden Bear Bash for CSP alumni followed by the athletic department's Bowling for Bears fundraiser at Flaherty's Arden Bowl.
Augustana has won six straight games including a 10-point win over Concordia in Sioux Falls and are now tied for second in the league standings, but are just one game ahead of Concordia. Wayne State, meanwhile, is fighting for positioning and is currently tied for eighth in the league prior to the conclusion of Saturday night's NSIC games.
The weekend offers a great chance for Concordia basketball to move up the league standings, and should be a great environment for spectators with the promotional events!
