Sophomore forward craig heiman (marshall, wis.) scored 26 of his 32 points in the second half to lead concordia university (15-11, 9-8 nsic) to a convincing 73-54 win over southwest minnesota state (15-11, 10-7 nsic) on friday evening at the gangelhoff center in a pivotal northern sun match-up. The golden bears outscored the mustangs 46-29 in the second half after a tight 27-25 first half lead for cu.



heiman went over the 30 point plateau for the second consecutive game and the third time this season, shooting 12-19 from the floor including 5-10 from behind the arc while also taking away three steals from the mustangs. Last saturday at upper iowa, heiman poured in a career-high 36 points in a win against the peacocks.

it was a dominating second half for concordia, who pulled behind 8-13 second half three-point shooting, finishing the game with 57.9% (11-19) shooting from long range. They also shot 62.5% (15-24) from the floor in the second half, finishing 55.1% (27-49) overall.

the defense held the mustangs to 38.0% (19-50) shooting for the game, and an even worse 33.3% (10-30) second half pct.

the two teams started slow with an 8-8 score after over nine minutes of action until concordia used an 8-0 run to double-up smsu, 16-8 with 8:42 to play in the opening half.

but smsu fought back, eliminating an 18-11 concordia lead by outscoring the golden bears 14-6 over a 5:17 span that gave smsu a slight edge, 25-24 when travis krenske knocked down a three-pointer with just over a minute to play in the half.

senior guard jason birr (burnsville, minn.) responded by burying a three with five seconds to play, putting concordia back in front going into the break.

birr led the golden bears in the opening frame with nine of his 11 points in the game while sophomore guard mike cunningham (minneapolis, minn.) dished out five first half assists on his way to a career-high 11 for the game.

cunningham's 11 assist performance was the first 10-plus assist effort by any cu player this season and he combined that with just two turnovers in 32 minutes at the point.

in the second half, the three-point shooting came alive, as heiman opened things up with a long range bucket and senior guard james metcalf (killeen, texas) followed with one of his own after stealing the ball away from ross demasi on the defensive end.

the result was three consecutive three-pointers by the golden bears going back to birr's trey before halftime, and allowed cu to re-open their eight point lead, 33-25.

leading by five, 35-30, concordia scored the next eight points and would lead by double-figures the rest of the way, opening up a 24 point margin, 69-45 when heiman put down another shot from behind the arc.

freshman forward matt hackl (seymour, wis.) also buried three second half three-point field goals to help concordia extend their lead, finishing with nine points, hitting 3-3 from behind the arc in 20 minutes off the bench.

senior center chuol chany (des moines, iowa) had seven points and six rebounds while metcalf finished with five points and nine rebounds.

southwest minnesota state was led by travis krenske's 14 points, hitting 4-9 from three-point range. No one else hit double-digits for the mustangs.

the win over the mustangs was the first time second year head coach kelly boe has defeated smsu in their fourth match-up, but more importantly, keeps concordia in the hunt for a first round home nsic tournament game.

the golden bears are currently fifth in the league, sitting one game behind smsu and wayne state, who defeated msu moorhead this evening.

the golden bears host wayne state tomorrow night, and with a win secure home court advantage in the first round and can move as high as the third seed with an smsu loss at msum.

a loss for concordia puts them in the no. 5 seed where they would re-match either the mustangs or wildcats depending on the outcome of the smsu game.

box score - cu 73, sw minn. State 54