Senior forwards Ty Thomas and Kenneth Pointer each scored 20 points to lead the Golden Bears (9-2) in a 67-60 victory over the visiting St. Cloud State University Huskies (7-5) on Tuesday night at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn. The win for Concordia was their first-ever victory against the Huskies in the seventh meeting between the two schools.

It was a closely contested matchup between the regional rivals, as there were seven ties and 13 lead changes. The Huskies cut the Golden Bear lead to two points on a Matt Siegle layup at the 2:08 mark in the second half to bring the score to 58-56.

But Pointer drilled a three on the next possession to give CU a five point lead. After a Husky layup on the following possession, the Bears scored four straight points, as Pointer and Thomas each converted a pair of free throws, putting the Bears ahead 65-58 with just :16 to play.

The bears led for much of the first half, pushing the lead as high as eight, 23-15, with just over minutes to play in the half. But SCSU responded with a 9-0 run to take their first lead since the opening possession, which they converted to take a 2-0 lead. The run put the Huskies ahead 24-23 with just under 2:30 in the opening half.

SCSU pushed the lead to three points, but Pointer's three-pointer with :51 retied the score at 28. The Huskies converted a layup with :21 to take a 30-28 halftime lead.

St. Cloud State never led by more than four points in the game, as the Concordia defense limited their leading scorer David Dreas to just 10 points on 3-8 shooting. The Huskies finished shooting .400 (24-60) in the game, but they hit just .267 (4-15) from behind the arc.

Concordia didn't fare any better from the field, matching SCSU's .400 shooting pct. (22-55), but the Golden Bears drilled eight three-pointers and were .833 (15-18) at the stripe.

Thomas finished the game with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. Pointer was efficient from the field, converting 6-9 field goals, 2-5 from downtown, and 6-8 at the stripe. He added six rebounds, a pair of assists, and a steal in a game-high 35 minutes.

Junior guard Kyle Marxhausen was the only other player to reach double-figures for Concordia with 10 points. He contributed six rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes of work.

Sophomore guard Jason Birr was perhaps the player of the game, as he sank three second half three-pointers when the SCSU zone defense was breaking down. He finished 3-4 from three-point range and had nine points. He grabbed two rebounds and had two blocks.

The Golden Bears are off until Dec. 29, when they host Nebraska Omaha at the Gangelhoff Center at 7 p.m.