Saturday, January 31, 2009

Concordia, St. Paul 81 Wayne State 74

           Despite shooting a season-high 64.4 percent from the field, Wayne State College fell to Concordia, St. Paul 81-74 Saturday evening in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball played in Wayne, Nebraska.  The visiting Golden Bears sank eight of nine free throws in the final 1:45 to preserve the win, improving to 9-11 overall and 7-6 in the NSIC while Wayne State fell to 8-12 overall and 4-9 in league play.

            The game saw five ties and two lead changes in the first half before Concordia, St. Paul settled for a 35-33 halftime lead.  Concordia, St. Paul built a nine point lead early in the second half at 49-40 with 15:49 to play.  Wayne State then responded with a 14-4 run over the next 4:19 to take a 54-53 lead on a layup by Brett Spiker.  Moments later with Wayne State leading 60-59 at the 9:16 mark, Concordia went on a 10-1 run over the next 3:05 to take a 69-61 advantage with 6:11 to play.  WSC got as close as two points at 73-71 on a free throw by Jonathon Thomas with 2:02 to play, but the Golden Bears preserved the lead by making eight of nine free throws down the stretch as Concordia, St. Paul picked up the 81-74 win.

            Thomas led Wayne State in scoring with 22 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the floor.  Brian Metz finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season while Brent Jackman had 13 points.  Wayne State finished the game shooting 29 of 45 from the field for 64.4 percent, including 77.3 percent (17 of 22) in the second half.  WSC was 5 of 9 from the three point line and 11 of 19 from the charity stripe.

            For Concordia, St. Paul, Sammy Ricks poured in a career-high 27 points on 10 of 13 shooting to pace the Golden Bears.  Mike Cunningham added 19 points as CU shot 29 of 53 from the field for 54.7 percent, including 16 of 26 (61.5 percent) in the second half.

            Wayne State held a 26-20 rebounding advantage as Metz hauled in 11 boards to lead the Wildcats while Cunningham had seven rebounds for Concordia, St. Paul.  The Wildcats had 20 turnovers in the game to 14 for CU.

            Wayne State will be on the road next Saturday night when the Wildcats visit Augustana College for a 8:00 p.m. Northern Sun Conference matchup.