Box Score
St. Paul, Minn.
– Behind 28 points from junior Mike Johnson, the North Dakota men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to three games as they defeated Concordia-St. Paul 85-74 Saturday night at the Gangelhoff Arena.
The victory was costly for North Dakota as the Sioux lost junior Keith Parks to a knee injury at the 18:18 mark in the second half when he came down for a rebound and landed hard on the floor.
Before leaving the game, Parks was having a good night from the floor, going 6-for-8. Parks was the team’s leading scorer, averaging nearly 17.0 points a contest.
Johnson was steady throughout the game, scoring 12 points in the first and 16 in the second. He shot well from the field, going 10-of-13, including 5-for-8 from behind the arc. He came into the game averaging only 10.5 points.
Two other Sioux players scored in double figures, led by sophomore Evan Lindahl’s 14 points and 12 rebounds and senior Jade Jahner finished with 10 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Brian Jamros led the way for the Golden Bears (1-5), scoring 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting, with five of those coming from behind the arc. Justin Vandenberg chipped in with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and Dan Torrez finished with 12 points.
After Parks went down, Johnson stepped up the scoring, as he scored eight straight points to give North Dakota a 55-49 lead, their biggest of the contest. But the Golden Bears would make a comeback, as Jamros hit two three-pointers to give Concordia-St. Paul the lead back at 61-57.
The Sioux three-point shooters would strike again, as Johnson and junior Steve Bradley connected on back-to-back possessions, giving North Dakota the lead back, 64-63.
The two teams would battle back and forth with the lead, but Johnson and Lindahl scored six straight Sioux points, putting North Dakota up 74-68. The Sioux iced the game in the final two minutes
North Dakota started off the game scoring eight of the first 11 points, led by Parks who scored six of the 11. After battling back to tie the game at 10-10, Concordia-St. Paul scored 13 of the next 22 points to take a 23-19 lead with 6:55 left in the first half.
The Golden Bears were able to push its advantage to seven points, 34-27, when Vandenberg scored on a layup with 2:53 left. But the North Dakota outscored Concordia-St. Paul 14-5 as Jahner got six of those 14 points including a buzzer-beater jumper to give the Sioux a 41-39 lead, the first since they lead 19-18 at the 8:34 mark.
The Sioux will be back in action this weekend as they take on Bemidji State on Friday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Hyslop Sports Center.
