ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team fell 76-69 to Concordia University, St. Paul Friday night at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn. The Golden Bears were dominant inside, out-rebounding UMC 50-32 and guided by 28 points from Shea Mandli. The Golden Eagles had four players score in double-figures led by 18 points and eight boards from C.J. Polk (So., G, Milwaukee, Wis./Business Management). The Golden Eagles would trail by just three at half and would try to get back in it in the second half, but would fall short.

UMC falls to 3-12 (1-10 NSIC) with Friday's loss. Concordia-St. Paul improves to 5-11 (2-8 NSIC).

"The challenge I had for these guys in the locker room was to be stronger in the post," said Head Coach Dan Weisse. " We were contesting shots, we were making them take difficult perimeter shots but they had 20 offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points and that is disappointing. It is hard to win a basketball game when you are getting beat by almost 20 on the boards. I have a challenge out to our bigs. We had 69 possessions in the game, so offense isn't the big issue. We need to improve our defense, especially inside going into tomorrow's game against Minnesota State."

In addition to Polk, Ben Grygiel (Jr., F, Rockford, Ill./Business Management) had 17 points and five boards. Gable Smith (R-Fr., F, Lodi, Wis./Business Management) added 11 points, four boards and three blocks. Derrick Redd, Jr. (Sr., G, Menifee, Calif./Sports and Rec Management) finished with 10 points.
The Golden Eagles were 26-of-63 from the field for 41.3 percent and were 6-of-24 for 25 percent from beyond the arc. UMC was 11-of-14 for 78.6 percent from the charity stripe.

"Our guys are just learning the offense and understanding the flow," Weisse said. "Early in the year we were a little stagnant. Guys would throw the ball and think about what to do next and now we are getting a better flow. I do think we will be able to make some even more shots as we get even more comfortable with the offense."

Concordia-St. Paul was led by 28 points and eight rebounds from Mandli, who was 10-of-15 from the field and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. Mike Yahnke added 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Diallo Powell added 11 points and eight boards and Cole Olstad had 10 points and six boards.

The Golden Bears had 20 offensive boards and 18 second-chance points. They were 23of-63 for 36.5 percent from the field and just 1-of-8 for 12.5 percent from beyond the arc. Concordia-St. Paul was 29-of-33 for 87.9 percent from the charity stripe.

The Golden Bears would lead by seven (29-22) after a pair of Mandli free throws. Concordia-St. Paul would hold their lead until the 1:26 when UMC would start to make a dent. After a pair of free throws from Smith, and a defensive stop, Grygiel would get a last second tip-in as the Golden Eagles went into the break down 37-34 to the Golden Bears.

UMC was led by 10 points from Grygiel, who was 4-of-7 from the field. In addition, Polk added seven pints, while Redd had five.

UMC was 14-of-33 for 42.4 percent and just 2-of-10 for 20 percent from beyond the arc.

The Golden Bears were led by Mandli, who was dominant in the first half with 23 points and five boards on 8-of-10 from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Yahnke added eight points and six boards. Concordia-St. Paul was 11-of-32 for 34.4 percent from the field and 15-of-16 for 93.8 percent from the free-throw line.
UMC would strike first in the second half as Polk got to the line and hit a pair of free throws to get UMC within 37-36 with 19 minutes remaining. Mandli would get to 25 as he pushed the Golden Bear lead to 39-36. Concordia-St. Paul would push their lead out to 44-38 on a Bryndan Matthews tip-in with 17 minutes left in the game. After a Redd lay-up, Yahnke would hit a bucket and convert the old-fashioned three-point play to put the Golden Bears up 47-40 with 16 minutes left.

The Golden Bears would push the lead out to 13 as Mandli hit a lay-up with 13:29 left in the game. UMC would cut into the lead with a lay-up from Lorenz and a three from Chase Knickerbocker to make it 53-45 with 12:34. However, Concordia-St. Paul would go on an 11-0 run culminating with a Diallo Powell jumper to make it 62-45 with 10:26 left in the half.

Polk would hit a jumper to cut it to 62-47. Then on the defensive end, Gable Smith would come up with the block and Polk would look to go in for the lay-up but he was held by the Concordia defender, earning the intentional foul. Polk would hit the pair of free throws to cut it to 62-49.

Polk would continue his string of scoring as he went 1-of-2 from the line to cut the lead to 62-50. A three from Smith from the wing would UMC back within 10 at 62-53 with six minutes remaining. A basket from Yahnke would push the Concordia-St. Paul lead to 64-53 but Grygiel would add a jumper in the paint to cut the lead back down to 64-55. However, a Powell trey would put the Golden Bears up 67-55 with four minutes left. Polk would get the jumper in the paint to cut the lead to 67-57 with 3:38 left in the game.

After neither team could convert their opportunities, Matthews would hit a pair of free throws to make it 69-57. Grygiel would then hit a three as the Golden Eagles cut the lead to 69-60. Cole Olstad would be able to hit a pair of free throws to push the lead out to 71-60 with just over a minute left. However, Redd would hit a three to cut the lead to 71-63. After a foul, Olstad would hit 1-of-2 to make it 72-63.

Polk would continue his strong free throw shooting by hitting a pair to cut the lead to 72-65 with just over 30 seconds left. After the foul, Powell would hit both foul shots to put the golden Bears up 74-65 with 27.6 seconds remaining. Smith would keep UMC alive as he got the put-back for the Golden Eagles to cut the lead to 74-67.

After a Polk foul, Matthews would hit both to all but ice the game 76-67 over the Golden Eagles. Critchley would get one more to cut the lead to 76-69, which would be the final.

The Golden Eagles will continue their road trip as they take on Minnesota State University, Mankato at 6 p.m. at the Taylor Center Jan. 15 at 6 p.m.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

Follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook at Golden Eagle Sports and on Twitter at @UMCAthletics.

The University of Minnesota Crookston is a NCAA Division II university located in the Red River Valley of Northwest Minnesota. UMC sponsors 11 intercollegiate athletic teams with membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate conference (NSIC) and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). The NSIC is a 16-team conference with schools situated in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
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