Box Score St. Paul, Minn. --- The Minnesota State men’s basketball team suffered an 85-67 loss to Concordia University Saturday evening despite a career-high 20 points from sophomore guard
#Jimmy Whitehead#, in front of 750 people in the Gangelhoff Center.
The Golden Bears jumped out to a 13-0 lead two minutes and 48 seconds into the game and never looked back, opening a 43-29 halftime advantage. The Mavericks trimmed the lead to five at 23-18 with 8:32 remaining following a lay-up by Whitehead but CU used a 20-9 run to close the half.
CU hit on 50 percent of its chances in the first half, including an 8-of-16 effort from the three point line, five of which came from Isaiah Thomas. MSU connected on just 31.4 percent of its shots in the first half and was led in scoring by Whitehead who scored 11 while passing out four assists.
The Mavericks opened the second half with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to seven at 43-36 but Concordia quickly pushed it back to double-digits.
Both teams traded baskets for several possessions before sophomore forward #Connor O’Brien# drained a jumper to cut the CU lead to nine at 58-49. After a CU basket, freshman guard #Miles Chamberlain# and Whitehead rattled off a pair of baskets to pull MSU within seven at 60-53 with 9:25 remaining.
Concordia stopped the run with a three-pointer by Zach Towle, pushing the lead back to ten. After again trading baskets, the Golden Bears worked the lead to 15 with 3:44 remaining and never looked back.
Whitehead finished with a career-high 20 points, while freshman forward #Zach Romashko# added 20 points and eight rebounds, tying his career-high. O’Brien added his second double-double in as many nights, the seventh of his season and the 10th of his career with a 13-poihnt, 12-rebound effort.
As a squad, Minnesota State shot 37.3 percent from the floor while CU hit on 53.
Minnesota State (7-16, 6-12 NSIC) returns to action Friday when it hosts Minnesota Duluth. Game time is set for 8 p.m.
