CONCORDIA ST PAUL TAKES DOWN NORTHERN STATE

Senior guard Matt Cadwell (St. Paul, Minn.) drained six first half three-pointers, making his first six from behind the arc off the bench and scored a team-high 22 points to lead host Concordia University (7-10, 5-5 NSIC) to a Northern Sun victory over #16th-ranked Northern State (13-4, 6-4 NSIC) at the Gangelhoff Center.

Concordia's win halts a six game losing streak while evening their mark at .500 in league play. The Wolves drop their second in three games. In a tight game, there were nine ties and six lead changes. Neither team lead by more than eight.

Cadwell's 22 points led a Concordia bench that outscored Northern State 32-6 to make up for being outscored in the paint 44-20 and in second chance scoring 20-4.

As a team, Cadwell hit half of Concordia's 12 three-pointers as the Golden Bears drilled 12-25 from behind arc, helping make up for a 35-26 deficit on the boards.

Free throw shooting was also key as Concordia improved their season record to 5-1 when shooting more free throws than their opponents. Concordia was 16-21 at the stripe while Northern State finished just 11-17.

For Cadwell, it was a much-needed offensive outburst. The St. Paul native had only scored in double-figures once in his past nine games. It was the first time since the season-opener against Georgia State that he topped 20 points. He finished the night 7-11 from the floor and 6-10 from long range while adding a pair of steals in a team-high 33 minutes.

The Wolves, who dominated the paint for most of the night behind 6-10 center Robert Thomas, were shut down in the paint as the game went down the stretch. Thomas made his first 10 field goals but converted just one of his last six shots before finishing with a game-high 25 points. He was also just 3-7 at the stripe. He pulled down seven rebounds and had three blocks in the middle for the Wolves.

The NSIC's scoring leader, Kevin Ratzsch, quietly reached his scoring average finishing with 23 points including a meaningless three-pointer with one second left in regulation. The small forward added a career-high 14 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. He scored 17 of his points in the second half and made six of his last seven shots. He also dished out five assists.

CU featured the second-leading scorer in the league, junior forward Craig Heiman (Marshall, Wis.) who scored nine points, hitting three from long range and grabbing six rebounds. It was just the second time he did not register double-figures on offense for CU.

But while the Wolves were scoring with ease in the paint for the first 35 minutes or so, it was the smallest player on the floor, CU guard Sammy Ricks (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.), a 5-11 point with outstanding leaping ability, who made the difference down the stretch. Ricks finished with 19 points, hitting 6-8 from the field - only one of those buckets from behind the arc in two attempts. He knocked down all six of his free throws and had two buckets in the paint in the final 4:20. Ricks also added three assists and a pair of steals.

His backcourt mate, the 6-4 Mike Cunningham (Minneapolis, Minn.) who can also sky, was just as clutch down the stretch, often on the drive. Cunningham had six of his 13 points in the final 4:37 of the game - four coming in the lane. Cunningham finished with six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.

The defense of post players Drew Votis (So., C, Peshtigo, Wis.) and Thomas Bassett (Jr., F, Denison, Iowa) was solid down the stretch. The front court duo was saddled with foul trouble for much of the game, but they traded off their minutes and held strong to hold Thomas to the poor 1-6 shooting finish in the final 12 minutes. He missed five consecutive shots in the final 4:27 for the Wolves down the stretch.

The Wolves lost despite shooting 50.8% (30-59) from the floor, but made only 23.1% (3-13) from behind the arc.

Concordia will host the University of Mary (N.D.) tomorrow evening at 8:00 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center. The Marauders fell at St. Cloud State tonight and are now 3-7 in league play.