SIOUX FALLS – With Matt Cartwright leading three players in double-digits, the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (11-9, 7-7 NSIC) earned a 66-64 win over Concordia St. Paul (2-21, 1-15 NSIC) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division play on Friday night at the Stewart Center.

With the victory, USF moved up to sixth in the NSIC standings at 7-7 in the NSIC South, a half-game in front of Minnesota State (13-7, 6-7 NSIC). USF and Minnesota State will face each other at the Stewart Center at 5:30 pm on Saturday afternoon following the USF-MSU women's game.

USF, which is 11-9 overall, is just a half-game out of fifth place (SMSU, 8-7, NSIC). The Cougars picked up its 10^th straight win over the Golden Bears, dating back to Feb. 20, 2016 and now lead the all-time series, 21-6.

USF had control for most of the game, leading 37-29 at the break before opening a 55-39 lead with 13:08 to play. However, CSP, led by 30 points and nine rebounds from Elijah Ormiston, rallied to within a point at 65-64 with under a minute to play. But the Cougars had a free throw from Jack Thompson and then forced a CSP miss to pick up the victory.

"I thought we played really hard tonight. We had 13 offensive boards and held them to 64 points. I thought we were really good offensively for the first 30 minutes of the game," said Johnson. "But give them credit, Matt's (Fletcher) guys battled back. So, I was proud of the team's effort as they battled to earn the victory. We made some crucial stops on defense down the stretch and that was due to effort and focus," added Johnson, who earned his 251^st win with his 235^th at USF. He also earned his 135th home win with his 61^st in home league games.

USF was led by Cartwright, who has led USF in scoring 12 times this year, with 15 points as he had six field goals, including a trio of three-pointers. A senior from Sioux Falls, he now has 52 games in double-digits in his career with 14 at USF. He now has 198 career three-pointers and 1,154 career points.

For the 32^nd time in his career, Thompson had double-digits with 12 points while tying a career-high with seven rebounds and ting his career mark with four steals while dishing four assists in an around solid floor game. Freshman forward Noah Puetz scored 12 points with five rebounds as he hit 2-of-5 from three-point range. For Puetz, he now has three games in double-digits at USF after making his eighth career start. Also for USF, junior Chase Grinde had nine points and six rebounds with two assists. Grinde pushed his career point total to 958.

Inside, USF had a solid game from senior forward Austin Slater, who scored six points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. Slater, who has led USF in rebounding 19 times in his career, has 11 rebounds three times in the past six games. He now has 640 career rebounds (591 points) and with 120 games played is one of just five players to do that in his career.

After two road losses, the Cougars had a bounce back win where they controlled the rebounds, 38-to-33, and shared the basketball with 16 assists on 24 made baskets. Overall, USF hit 24-of-62 field goals for 38.1 percent but knocked in 11-of-33 from three-point range for 33.3 percent, a mark well above its average of 7.4 made threes per game.  In addition, USF had eight steals and had just nine turnovers as they had a 17-to-11 margin in points off turnovers. USF also used the rebound margin to a 9-to-5 advantage in second chance points.

The Golden Bears had a stellar effort from Ormiston, who had 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting which included 4-of-5 made three-pointers as well as nine rebounds. Jacob Everson added nine points for CSP, which hit on 26-of-55 field goals for 47.3 percent. From three-point range, the Golden Bears hit 8-of-20 for 40 percent.

Scoring Summary
USF opened a double-digit lead (29-18, 5:29) of the first half as they led, 37-29 at the break. The Cougars, which hit on 14-of-30 shots for 46.7 percent, including 6-of-16 from three-point range for 37.5 percent, was led by Cartwright with eight points.

Early in the first half, CSP took a 4-0 lead before USF responded with a 9-0 run for a 9-4 advantage as Grinde hit a three and converted a lay-up.  CSP answered with a 6-0 run for a 10-9 lead, including a three by Caden Hoffman, who finished with six points, at the 13:52 mark. USF also answered as Marko Coudreau came off the bench to knocked in a triple as USF look a 12-10 lead. Up 17-14, USF had a 12-4 run to extend the lead to 29-18 with 5:29 to play in the half. CSP responded with a 10-5 run to draw to 34-28 with 2:12 on the clock. But USF finished with a 3-1 margin and took the 37-29 lead to the break.

In the second half, CSP, which would hit on 14-of-27 shots for 51.9 percent including five triples in 10 attempts, closed the gap to 37-33. Then, Puetz hit from deep to spur a big USF run. The Cougars had a 15-6 spurt and took its largest lead of the game at 55-39 with 13:08 to play.

From that point on, USF scored just 11 points in the final 13 minutes as USF was just 10-of-33 from the field for 30.3 percent in the second half. In the meantime, CSP began a comeback as they had a run of 20-to-8 as they drew within 63-59 with 2:56 to play. Grinde scored on a floating jumper in the lane for a 65-59 but Ormiston answered with a triple.

With 25 seconds to go Jack Stensgard, who had six points in the game, converted a driving lay-up as CSP had pulled within 65-64. Thompson made 1-of-2 foul shots for USF for a 66-64 lead and the Cougars' defense stopped CSP from scoring in the final seconds as the Cougars prevailed with its seventh home win in nine games this season.