BOX SCORE
MARSHALL, Minn. – Craig Heiman snapped a 67-67 tie with a field goal off a missed shot with one minute and 23 seconds left in the game to lift Concordia, St. Paul (8-8, 5-4 NSIC) to a 75-71 victory over Southwest Minnesota State (9-6, 4-5 NSIC) on Saturday night in Marshall.
The victory for CU was just its second all-time in Marshall in 12 games. The loss for SMSU was its second straight on the weekend, marking the first time since the 2005-06 season the Mustangs have lost two home games in an NSIC weekend.
Concordia was led by Brent Barz, who scored a season-high 26 points and also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Southwest Minnesota State was led by Taylor Huseby's 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting.
CU snapped a 38-38 tie early in the second half using an 18-8 run to build a 55-45 lead with 11:39 left in the game. SMSU then battled back and closed to within 59-58 with 6:58 remaining on a three-pointer by Jordan Miller. The Golden Bears answered back and pushed the lead to 67-61 with 3:54 left before SMSU put together one more rally scoring six straight points, capped by two free throws by Taylor Huseby with 2:42 on the clock to tie the score at 67-67.
The Mustangs forced a stop on defense and had a chance for the lead, but an SMSU turnover on the ensuing possession gave CU the ball with 1:58 on the clock. On the next CU possession, Barz missed a shot with the shot-clock nearing zero, but Heiman picked up the rebound and scored the eventual game-winner.
SMSU was then called for another turnover, this time an offensive foul, away from the ball, giving the Golden Bears possession with 1:12 left. CU then put the game away just moments later as Kuderer nailed a three-pointer with 52 seconds remaining to push the lead to 72-67. SMSU pulled to within three points on two more occasions, but CU made enough plays in the closing seconds to hold on for its first victory in Marshall since 2004-05.
SMSU started the game strong scoring the game's first seven points behind back-to-back field goals from Scott Roehl and a three-pointer by Miller. CU would battle back and take its first lead of the game at 10-9 with 14 minutes and 55 seconds left in the half.
The Golden Bears would take its largest lead of the half at 17-14 with 10:32 remaining before the Mustangs answered with an 8-1 run over the next five minutes to build a 22-18 lead at the 5:41 mark.
SMSU would hold a slight 27-26 lead with just over two minutes left in the half, before back-to-back three-pointers by Miller gave SMSU its largest lead of the half at 33-26 with 1:37 left. CU would answer back with the final seven points of the half to send the two teams into halftime tied at 33-33.
CU shot 41.9 percent (13 of 31) in the opening half, while SMSU finished at 35.1 percent (13 of 37).
Concordia shot 59.3 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 50 percent (29 of 58). SMSU ended the evening shooting 40 percent (24 of 60), but was just 8 of 22 from three-point range.
Miller connected on game-high four three-pointers and finished with 12 points, while Roehl chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds. Andrew Peschong grabbed eight rebounds and added three assists. Peschong now ranks second all-time in assists at SMSU with 294 and is 10 shy of tying the school record.
SMSU will return to the road next weekend taking on nationally ranked Augustana on Jan. 22 and Wayne State on Jan. 23.
