st. Paul, minn. - freshman guard isaiah thomas (fridley, minn.) couldn't miss on friday night, going 9-9 from the floor and making five three-pointers for a career-high 23 points to lead concordia university (5-4) to a 110-78 victory over judson university at gangelhoff center. Thomas had help from his friends, too, as the golden bears set a school record with 30 assists on their 41 made field goals with six players reaching double-figures on the night. box score
thomas' previous high was nine points last weekend, when he put up 17 points in two games at minnesota, crookston and msu moorhead. He beat that two game total and then some tonight as he flashed his three-point marksmanship, his ability to drive and make plays in transition. He also had three rebounds, including one on the offensive end with a tip-in, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot while earning 21 minutes of action.
for the team, concordia came out of the gate hot, building a 68-37 lead at the break with assists on 19 of their first 23 field goals. They knocked down 11 three-pointers in the first half in 20 attempts and came out shooting 61.1% from the field in the opening 20. They also connected on 13 of 15 from the foul line.
four players reached double-figures in the first half alone, thomas leading the way with 12 while sophomore brent barz (johnston, iowa) had 11 on 4-4 shooting (3-3 ft) along with five rebounds, senior forward craig heiman (marshall, wis.) had 10 and junior guard andrew kuderer (eden prairie, minn.) also had 10. Senior guard mike cunningham (minneapolis, minn.) had six of his seven assists in the first half as well.
no starter played more than 18 minutes on the night and no golden bear clocked more than thomas' and junior guard courtney tyler's (eagan, minn.) 21 minutes.
barz finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists shooting 6-7 from the floor. Heiman wound up with 13 points, four assists and three boards. He knocked down a pair of three's, leaving him one shy of the 200 milestone. Kuderer also had 13 with three assists. Senior guard sammy ricks (st. Paul, minn.) and tyler each scored 10.
the golden bears topped the 40 mark on rebounding again for the seventh time in nine games with junior post dan vandervieren (eden prairie, minn.) leading the squad with nine in only 13 minutes. He also had a pair of blocked shots.
the 110 points ties concordia's high mark under head coach kelly boe, matching the number posted against north central on february 6, 2006; 12 points shy of the school record 122 points against st. Paul bible in 1968-69. It's the sixth time cu has topped the century mark under boe, the last time coming at home against upper iowa last season on february 28 in a 101-91 win over the peacocks.
judson was led by ben rayhorn's 16 points and five rebounds while josh weber added 13. Both came off the bench and played only 22 and 17 minutes, respectively. Landon skinner contributed 10 points and three assists. The eagles scored 47 second half points and only committed nine turnovers on the night. They compensated for their 37.1% shooting from the field by converting 20-24 at the foul line.
the golden bears are now winners of three straight to get their record back above .500. They face a 4-4 regis university squad tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. At gangelhoff center. The rangers of the rmac are a central region opponent and lost tonight 71-68 in overtime to upper iowa at gangelhoff center earlier.
