SIOUX FALLS – Mack Johnson scored 26 points but the University of Sioux Falls men's basketball team dropped a 70-59 decision to Concordia-St. Paul (18-10, 14-8, NSIC) in the regular season finale at the Stewart Center before 741 in attendance.
With the loss, USF drops to 8-20 overall, 5-17 in NSIC in play. In the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Tournament on Wednesday, USF will be the #7 seed in the South Division and face the #2 North Division seed, Northern State (21-7, 15-7, NSIC) at 8 p.m. in the Barnett Center in Aberdeen.
“As has been the case for us too many times, we couldn't make enough shots,” said USF head coach Chris Johnson. “We had opportunities but couldn't sustain offense throughout the night. One thing about this team, they fought until the end and that is what you like to see,” he said.
Johnson scored 20 points for the seventh time in his career and the fourth time this year. He hit 9-of-19 field goals and knocked down 4-of-12 from three-point range. In his career, he now has reached double figures 24 times with 17 this season.
Also scoring in double figures were seniors Bryan Kielpinski with 13 points and four rebounds and Charles Ward, who had 10 points, three rebounds and two assists. For Kielpinski and Ward, who were honored in pre-game Senior Night festivities, both had double figure games in their final home game at the Stewart Center.
Ward, who now has 828 career points in two seasons at USF, has reached double figure points 40 times with 24 this season. Kielpinski had double figures for the 20th time as a Cougar. With two blocked shots, he pushed his career total to 132. He has 37 swats this year.
USF was 15-of-20 from the foul line. For the fourth straight game, USF lost the rebound battle, 30-22.
Early in the second half, USF pulled with 30-27 on a pair of Kielpinski foul shots with 19:05 to play. Then, the Golden Bears gained control of the game. With a 9-3 run, including four points from Omot, CSP took a 39-30 edge with 16:14 to play.
A three-pointer from the Golden Bears' Jon Sebaski pushed the lead to 11 at 49-38 with 13:29 to play. USF wasn't done and battled back to cut the lead. First, a three-pointer from Ward trimmed to deficit to 49-41 with 9:49 left and then, a three-point play on a drive to the basket by Zach Wessels (5 points on the night), reduced the margin to eight at the 8:14 mark.
With 5:51 left, Ward converted two free throws to reduce the Golden Bears' advantage to seven at 56-49. But that was as close as the Cougars would get on the night. Eventually, the Golden Bears pushed the lead to 17 at 67-50 with 1:57 left in the game and they swept the season series from USF.
