Box Score MOORHEAD, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team almost erased a 17-point second half deficit, but came up short in a 67-61 non-conference loss to Concordia College-Moorhead on Thursday night at Memorial Auditorium.

The Saints scored the first four points of the game after baskets by Brett Tester (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) and Jonah Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) and led 8-3 four minutes into the contest. After that the Cobbers went on a 14-2 run, making three, 3-pointers during that stretch.

Concordia led by as much as 12 with four minutes to go in the half until Tester and Dahlman started to bring the Saints back. Chris Hamers (Onamia, Minn./Onamia HS) made a 3-pointer with less than a minute to go to cut the margin to four, but the Cobbers' Brandon Fisher connected on his second 3-pointer of the half to give Concordia a 34-27 halftime advantage.

The Saints shot 39-percent from the floor in the half and were just 5-for-11 from the free throw line. The Cobbers shot 41-percent from the field and made five, 3-pointers in the half.

Concordia started the second half on a 10-0 run to take a 17-point lead. The Saints quickly answered with a 6-0 run to make the score 44-33 with 14 minutes to go.

With the Cobber lead at 14, Hamers caught fire from beyond the arc, making back-to-back 3-pointers and after a Derek Steve (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo HS) bucket, Hamers connected on another 3-pointer as the Saints quickly went on an 11-0 run to make it 49-46 with 10 minutes to go.

The Cobbers got the lead back up to 10 with five minutes left, but Tester and Steve kept the Saints in it with six straight points to make it a four-point game with over three minutes to go. CSS made it a three-point game twice in the final two minutes, but could not get over the hump as the Cobbers would hang on for the 67-61 victory.

St. Scholastica shot 41-percent for the game, but free throws once again haunted the Saints making just 50-percent (12-for-24). The Cobbers shot 42-percent from the floor and were 11-for-15 from the free throw line. Concordia also had a 43-31 advantage on the glass.

Tester once again led the Saints with 18 points. Hamers added 12 points, all on 3-point field goals. Steve and Dahlman each chipped in with 10 points. Steve also had four assists and four steals. MarShaan Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis North HS (Minneapolis Comm. & Tech. College)) led the Saints on the glass with nine rebounds. The Cobbers (4-5) also had four players score in double figures with Dewon McKenzie leading the way with 14 points.

The Saints (1-8) will play one final time before 2011 comes to a close and that will be on Saturday at Reif Gymnasium against Bridge Rival University of Wisconsin-Superior. The tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. and can be seen live on csssaints.com.