BISMARCK, ND – Upset hopes for the University of Mary men's basketball team were dashed by visiting Concordia-St. Paul as a late surge carried the Golden Bears past the Marauders 71-65. The game featured 14 lead changes and eight ties.
 
Jeremiah Jones posted three steals in the game to become the Marauders NCAA single-single record-holder with 59. Marquelis Edwards owned the former mark with 57 in the 2015-16 season. Jones leads the Northern Sun and is 9^th in NCAA Division II with 2.5 steals/game.
 
Down by 15 in the second half, the Marauders went on a massive 18-2 run to claim their first lead since midway through the first half. Trailing 45-30, UMary ripped off 14 straight points to pull within a single point. Ty Rogers and Jeremiah Jones each scored seven points to account for all the Marauders points.
 
UMary (4-19 overall, 2-12 Northern Sun) finally claimed the lead at 48-47 on an offensive putback by Xavier Lewis. The Golden Bears (15-5, 10-4) regained the lead before a 3-point play by Alex Mattes pushed the Marauders in front 55-53.
 
Jones soon gave the Marauders a pair of 3-point leads, the first on a trey and the second on layup following a Golden Bears turnover for a 61-58 lead with six minutes to play. CSP then ran off four straight points – all on free throws – before another offensive putback by Lewis provided UMary its final lead of the game at 63-62 and just under five minutes to play.
 
Two more CSP free throws and a basket by Cade Meyer allowed the Golden Bears to go up three. An emphatic dunk by Lewis cut the Marauders deficit to 66-65 with 2:28 to play.
 
A block by Gunner Swanson gave UMary a chance to take the lead but a corner three by Rogers just missed the mark. A pair of offensive rebounds led to a free throw and a 67-65 CSP lead. Another missed trey by the Marauders sealed UMary's fate as a long rebound led to a basket by the Golden Bears with 24 seconds to play. Two more free throws by CSP with eight seconds clinched the win for the visitors.
 
Concordia-St. Paul entered the weekend second in the Northern Sun standings and receiving votes in the nation poll, the seventh team the Marauders have faced this season earning national recognition.
 
Rogers led the Marauders with 18 points. He hit three treys and delivered three assists.
 
In addition to his three steals, Jones splashed a pair of 3-pointers on the way to 16 points. The sophomore guard also chipped in five rebounds and three assists.
 
Lewis also scored 16 points. The junior forward made 7-of-10 shots and tied Jones for the team lead in rebounds with five.
 
Meyer posted 19 points and nine rebounds for the Golden Bears. Antwan Kimmons also scored 19 points and dished five assists.
 
UMary held a 72-53 edge in shots taken and a 15-4 advantage in points off turnovers, in large part to finishing the game +11 in turnovers (5 for UMary, 16 for CSP). The Golden Bears edge in free throws (17-of-24 to 5-of-8 for the Marauders) and on the boards (46-30) proved the difference in the outcome.
 
The Marauders next visit Bemidji State University on Thursday, January 30, before returning to the MAC on Saturday, February 1, to host the University of Minnesota Crookston at 3:30 pm.
 
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