ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia University seniors Dan Vandervieren (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Courtney Tyler (Eagan, Minn.) led Concordia by combining for 37 points on 19-20 free throw shooting off the bench to lift the Golden Bears (16-10, 13-9 NSIC) to a 78-66 win over St. Cloud State (13-13, 12-10) on Saturday night at Gangelhoff Center. In the season finale, the Golden Bears vault to fourth place in the league standings in a tie with Winona State and will play the Warriors at home in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament on Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. BOX SCORE
Concordia's bench accounted for 46 points compared to just 19 for the Huskies, while Concordia made 83.9% of their free throws (26-31). The Golden Bears complete the season sweep of the Huskies for the first time as well.
Vandervieren picked up his second career double-double, the other also coming against St. Cloud State last season. He finished with a career-high 19 points while matching his career-high in rebounds with 10. He made 9-of-10 at the stripe and finished 5-of-8 from the floor including a thundering second half dunk as Concordia took the momentum.
The Huskies led by five, 53-48, with 8:01 to play off of an Andrew Bernstetter jumper in the lane.
Concordia answered with an 11-2 run over the next two minutes as Vandervieren made six straight free throws and finished a lay-up before Tyler buried a three-pointer at 5:23 to give Concordia a 59-55 lead.
SCSU forced a tie at 61-all with just under four minutes to play but on the ensuing possession sophomore Isaiah Thomas (Fridley, Minn.) canned a three-pointer and Concordia led the rest of the way. Thomas finished with nine points off the bench.
The Huskies did cut the lead to one with just under three minutes to play but a three-point play by junior Brent Barz (Johnston, Iowa) allowed Concordia to play the rest of the game without allowing the Huskies a possession with a chance to tie or take the lead. Barz finished with 10 points and eight rebounds with a pair of blocks after sitting much of the first half with foul trouble.
Pivotal down the stretch was the free throw shooting of Tyler as he finished an and-1 for a three-point play in the lane and made six free throws in the final minute of play and finished perfect in his 10 free throw attempts for the game. He also knocked down two of his three three-point attempts, had four rebounds and three assists.
As a team, Concordia made 83.9% (26-31) at the foul line and doubled-up the Huskies in free points as SCSU was 31-20 (65.0%).
Defensively, the Golden Bears bottled up Husky leading scorer Taylor Witt, the NSIC's Preseason Player of the Year, to just 3-18 shooting as he finished with 13 points, two assists, two turnovers and one rebound.
They held the Huskies as a team to just 34.8% (24-69) shooting and despite their 19-10 advantage in offensive rebounding, the game was tied in second chance points at 11 apiece and the teams had an even total rebounding game at 40-40.
Concordia shot 46.2% (24-52) for the game and buried four of their seven three-pointers in the second half after missing all eight of their first half three's.
Twins Peter (above right) and Kenny Olafeso (below right, St. Paul, Minn.) were solid for the Golden Bears. Peter had 12 points and dished three late assists with nice passing in the lane while Kenny was 3-4 shooting with six points and five rebounds including three offensive boards.
The Golden Bears will be hosting an NSIC Tournament First Round game for the third time in school history, all under head coach Kelly Boe in the last five seasons. They finished 13-5 in third place in the league in 2006-07, defeating Wayne State in the first round before falling at Winona State in the semifinals. The following year, 2007-08, they took fourth and again hosted Wayne State, falling in overtime by three points (75-72).
Concordia is 0-3 all-time in the NSIC Tournament against Winona State, playing all three prior meetings in Winona.
Photos courtesy Trevor Saylor
