BOX SCORE
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Concordia University's Craig Heiman scored 35 points, including 20 in the overtime periods, to lead the Golden Bears to a thrilling 109-104 triple overtime victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday night in St. Paul, Minn.
The game featured 13 ties and 17 lead changes as CU earned its second victory over SMSU this season.
Scott Roehl led SMSU (13-10, 8-9 NSIC) with a career-high 26 points and also grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, while Kevin Andrews also scored a career-high for SMSU with 26 points.
The triple overtime game for SMSU was its first since the 1975-76 season and also marked its second multi-overtime game this season. SMSU lost in double overtime to Wayne State on Jan. 22.
It was also the first time SMSU and an opponent both score 100 points in a game since the 1995-96 season versus Valley City State.
Concordia (13-11 overall, 10-7 NSIC) scored six of the first eight points of the triple overtime to take a 96-92 lead with 2:41 remaining. SMSU's Andrew Peschong hit two free throws with 2:24 remaining to cut the CU lead to two points, but the Golden Bears answered with five straight points to take a 101-94 lead with 1:10 on the clock. SMSU pulled to within three points at 107-104 with 20 seconds left on a Jordan Miller 3-pointer, but that was as close as the Mustangs would get in losing its second straight game.
SMSU dominated the boards early in the game in building a 24-19 lead. SMSU had 14 second chance points in the opening 11 minutes with six offensive rebounds in building the five-point lead.
The first half saw 10 lead changes and four ties, before SMSU pulled away late in the half to take a four-point 42-38 halftime lead.
The Mustangs outrebounded the Golden Bears 19-9 in the opening half, including recording nine offensive rebounds which lead to 20 second points, compared to zero for CU.
Roehl led SMSU with 13 first half points on 6 of 9 shooting, while Miller added 10 points, including drilling a pair of 3-pointers.
SMSU shot 50 percent (17 of 34) in the opening half, while CU was also red-hot from the field finishing 13 of 23 for 56.5 percent, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range.
The Mustangs started the second half strong behind a pair baskets from Andrews and a lay-up by Nick Dale as SMSU built a 48-40 lead with 16:56 remaining in the game.
SMSU continued to lead for the next 12 minutes until 4:07 left in the game when CU put together a 4-0 run to tie the game at 65-65. CU then took its first lead of the half with 3:23 remaining on a jumper by CU's all-time leader scorer Craig Heiman.
Trent Carlson tied the game for SMSU at 67-67 with a pair of free throws with 1:58 remaining before CU scored four straight points to regain the lead at 71-67. Roehl then trimmed the lead to 71-69 with two free throws with 54 seconds remaining.
On CU's next possession, Andrews stole a Golden Bear pass and tied the game with 18 seconds left. CU held for one last chance to win the game, but Courtney Tyler's 13-foot jump shot rolled off the rim sending the game to overtime.
CU scored the first four points of the overtime and built a 79-73 lead with 1:43 remaining, before Andrews drilled a big 3-pointer, just the second for SMSU since halftime, to cut the deficit to 79-76 with 1:21 on the clock.
Roehl made 1 of 2 free throws with 25 seconds left to make it 79-77, before Tyler hit one free throw with 21 seconds on the clock to push the lead for CU at 80-77.
SMSU's Jordan Miller then tied the game with a 3-pointer in the corner to tie the game at 80-80 with 3.8 seconds left and send into double overtime.
The Mustangs held three leads in the second overtime, including 90-88 with 1:47 on the clock, but CU took advantage of two offensive rebounds to tie the game at 90-90 with 57 seconds left. Both teams missed chances to take the lead in the final minute but missed shots and the game moved into a third overtime.
SMSU finished the night shooting 42.7 percent (32 of 75) from the field, including 9 of 31 (29.0) from 3-point range. The Mustangs held a 42-35 rebound advantage but scored just three second chance in the second half and overtime periods after scoring 20 in the first 20 minutes. SMSU ended the night 31 of 34 (91.2) from the free throw line.
CU shot 53.2 percent (33 of 62) from the field and 9 of 17 (52.9) from 3-point range. CU connected on 34 of 45 free throws.
Southwest Minnesota State returns home next Saturday, Feb. 20, to host NSIC leading and nationally-ranked Minnesota State, Mankato for “Senior Night” starting at 8 p.m.
