Box Score Concordia-St. Paul 69  Wayne State 64

            Wayne State College's late rally fell just short as Concordia-St. Paul held on for a 69-64 Northern Sun Conference men's basketball win over the Wildcats Saturday evening in St. Paul, Minnesota.  The Golden Bears are now 4-11 on the season and 1-8 in the NSIC while WSC drops to 3-12 and 1-9 in league play.
            Concordia-St. Paul stretched out a 15 point lead out of the gates at 33-18 with 3:30 to play in the first half, for their largest lead of the game, before Wayne State responded to cut the halftime deficit to eight at 35-27.
            Wayne State cut the lead to as close as three at 37-34 off of an Adam Moon layup with 17:21 to play, but were unable to get any closer for the remainder of the game.
            The Golden Bears responded with a 10-1 run of their own to regain the 47-35 advantage with 15:03 to play.  CSP stretched their lead to as large as 14 in the second half at 58-44 with 9:17 to play.  The Wildcats would not go away quietly, however, responding with a 18-7 run over the next 7:28 of play to cut the lead to three at 65-62 with 1:49 to play following a Vance Janssen 3-pointer.
            With WSC down three, and possession of the ball, with 1:18 to play, the 'Cats were unable to convert on any of their next three possessions, as Concordia-St. Paul held on for the 69-64 win.
            Freshman guard Vance Janssen paced Wayne State offensively scoring a game high 21 points, followed by Jordan Cornelius who was also in double figures for the 'Cats with 18.
            Wayne State made 21 of 52 shots from the field for 40.4 percent and 11 of 24 from the 3-point line for 45.8 percent.  WSC was 11 of 15 (73.3%) from the free throw line.
            Cole Olstad and Bryndan Matthews led Concordia-St. Paul with 14 points apiece.  Mike Yahnke was also in double figures for the Golden Bears with 13 points.
            Concordia-St. Paul was 25 of 63 from the field for 39.7 percent, but just 5 of 15 from behind the arc.  CSP was 14 of 23 (60.9%) from the free throw line.
            The Golden Bears held a 41-39 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats with Jordan Cornelius hauling in a game high 11 rebounds, while Yahnke led CSP with 10.
            CSP had just 13 turnovers in the game, six less than WSC.  Concordia-St. Paul held a 34-18 advantage in points in the paint, as well as a 19-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
            Wayne State returns home next weekend, hosting Minnesota Duluth Friday at 8 p.m. and St. Cloud State on Saturday in a 6 p.m. contest, both games to be held in Rice Auditorium.