ST. PAUL, MINN. – One defining trait of the 2014-15 University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team has been the team's effort. Even in a fifth straight loss, the Cougars (7-12, 4-9 NSIC South) battled to the end in a 71-68 loss to Concordia, St. Paul (12-6, 8-4 NSIC South) at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn.

USF, which trailed by as many as 13 in the first half and 14 (14:03) in the second half, cut the lead to two in the final seconds but the Golden Bears made 5-of-8 free throws in the final minute to hold off the Cougars, which lost to CU for the first time in five tries at the NCAA DII level (since 2012). Down three with two seconds to play, Charles Ward shot at the buzzer was off-line as the Cougars fell on the road.

Sophomore guard Mack Johnson led USF with 16 points, including four 3's, and seven rebounds. Johnson broke double digits for the 14th time this season. Senior guard Charles Ward added 15 and Jordan Stotts had 13 points. Ward, who surpassed 700 points for his career (707), scored in double digits for the 18th time in 19 games this season. In addition, redshirt freshman Tom Aase had seven points and seven rebounds.

For the Golden Bears, which shot 48.2 percent from the field (27-of-56), Nuni Omot and Terez Van Pelt both had 15 points while Keith Crockett had 14 points and five rebounds. The key for CU, which has been the case all year, was its defense.

Coming into the game, CU, which won for the seventh time in eight games, had the league's top defensive unit. And, the Golden Bears made it tough on USF, holding the Cougars to 37.7 percent (26-of-69) shooting from the field. Yet despite the shooting woes, the Cougars kept the pressure on the home standing Golden Bears. Down by 14 points with 14 minutes to play in the second half, USF rallied and nearly caught CU.

“This team is competing and playing hard but again we struggled to make shots,” said Johnson. “We had 70 shots attempts but mostly tonight the shots just wouldn't go down. I know it is frustrating for the guys. I want these guys to get a win. But, you can't fault the effort. We had a shot to tie at the end. I know this - as we keep battling we will continue to take steps forward and that will be a positive for us,” he said.

The Cougars won the rebound battle for the 15th time in 19 games, holding a 39-35 edge over CU. For just the fifth time this year, the Cougars had fewer turnovers (12) than their opponent (14).

USF jumped to a quick 2-0 lead when Mack Johnson opened the scoring. It was the start of a big half for the sophomore guard, who finished the opening stanza with 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers. After Johnson scored, the team traded baskets until a jumper by Terez Van Pelt gave the Golden Bears a 9-6 lead at the 14:50 mark. At that point, USF had hit just 2-of-15 shots from the field, and missed all four of its three-pointers.

Leading 16-13, the Golden Bears used an 11-1 run to take their biggest lead of the half at 13 points, 27-14 with 7:50 to play in the half. The Cougars rallied back by closing the half on a 16-10 run, which included a pair of three's from Johnson – the last coming with :37 seconds to play in the half. The Cougars improved on their early game shooting woes, finishing at 34.3 percent on 12-of-35 shooting from the floor. USF also had three, three-point field goals and were 3-of-4 from the foul line. CU hit 48.4 percent on 15-of-31 shooting. The Golden Bears, led by Van Pelt's 11 points, also had three treys. USF had a 21-18 rebound edge.

Just 3:05 (16:55) into the second half, CU built their lead back to 45-33 after a layup from Crockett. Just a few seconds later, Ward went past 700 points in his career with a jumper to draw the Cougars within 45-35 (16:37). After CU built a 52-38 lead with 14:03 to play in the half, USF made a run, keyed by the play of Stotts, whose consecutive baskets cut the CU lead to 58-51 with 4:35 to play.

At that point, the game got even more interesting. A three-pointer by Mack Johnson with 2:12 left cut the CU lead to 63-58. After holding the Golden Bears, Ward scored on a layup to cut the lead to 63-60 with 1:35 on the clock. After two free throws by Crockett, Ward scored again as USF trailed 65-62 with 1:01 to play. With 11 seconds to go, Aase had two free throws to cut the lead to 70-68. After Van Pelt made 1-of-2 free throws, Ward's final shot from just inside half court was off line.

On Saturday, USF will face #20 Minnesota State, Mankato (15-3, 10-3 NSIC) at 6 p.m. at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minn.