ALMA -- Friday's I-70 Conference finale for the Santa Fe and Concordia basketball teams followed a familiar pattern: the Chiefs hanging around and hanging around, but the seventh-ranked Orioles eventually prevailing.

Consider it the difference between a club which starts four seniors and another which is roughly a year younger.

"We haven't been able to close out," admitted Santa Fe head coach Travis Zahl following the 61-48 home loss, the third against Concordia this season. "That's a hump we need to get over."

Neither team could take control during a first half which saw seven lead changes and four tie scores, the Chiefs going into the break with a 26-23 edge following a seven-point run -- while 6-foot-5 Concordia senior Jacob Evans sat out with three personal fouls -- on two buckets by junior Luke Brandt and junior Bryan Sander's three-point play.

The Orioles opened the third quarter with a 10-4 spurt, getting a three-pointer from senior John Miller to tie and going ahead on senior Dylan Clayton's bomb.

Santa Fe went six minutes without a field goal, but kept the visitors from exploding. Senior Taylor Wesley's stick-back and three free throws by sophomore Jeff Knipmeyer with 2.2 seconds left in the frame closed the margin to four points.

However, the Chiefs went through two more shooting droughts, of three and two minutes, while Concordia steadily extended its lead -- up to 13 points when senior Joey White sank a pair of freebies with 2:24 left.

"We did a good job of attacking the basket," noted Zahl, whose squad shot only 24.1 percent from the field during the second half. "Those shots, we needed to go in."

Santa Fe had one more window of opportunity, though. After two defensive stops, senior Kenzie Thorp connected from outside and Sander posted up inside to close the gap to eight points. Evans missed two charities with 1:07 remaining, the second one so badly that the ball caromed over the Chiefs' rebounders and into Evans' hands near the elbow.

Clayton converted twice from the stripe to conclude the extended possession, and end Santa Fe's comeback bid.

"I thought we needed a better tempo, a faster pace," Zahl said. "But give Concordia credit. They're a very good team."

White had 21 points and nine rebounds, but Miller -- the diminutive 5-5 point guard -- spurred the Orioles (20-3, 6-1 I-70) beyond his 15 points and six assists.

Wesley's 11 points topped the Chiefs (13-9, 4-3), with Sander adding nine points and nine boards. Santa Fe plays two non-conference games this week heading into the Class 2, District 8 Tournament at St. Paul -- where, as the No. 2 seed, it is considered the leading challenger to Concordia.

"I thought we played some pretty good basketball this week," Zahl said about road wins at Green Ridge and Crest Ridge. "We need to get better next week."