courtesy Paul Madison/WWU Sports Information

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Guard Terez VanPelt (Osseo, Minn.) and forward Isaiah Thomas (Fridley, Minn.) each scored 16 points as Concordia University, St. Paul overcame an early deficit and defeated University of Alaska Fairbanks, 65-60, in final-day action Saturday at the 12th Western Washington University Chuck Randall Thanksgiving Men's Basketball Classic being held at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the WWU campus.

Concordia improved to 1-2 on the season while UAF fell to 4-3. 

VanPelt and Thomas were each named to the Chuck Randall Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team. In the two games, VanPelt led Concordia by scoring 19.5 points with 4.5 assists while Thomas made seven three-pointers and averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in the two games.

Forward Stefan Tica and guard Dominique Brunson each had 11 points for the Nanooks.

UAF hit four 3-pointers in the first five minutes, jumping to a 16-4 lead, and led by as much as 14 in the opening half.  Concordia used a run of nine straight points late in the period to narrow the margin, and UAF led just 36-33 at halftime.

The lead changed hands five times in the second half. The Golden Bears took the lead for good, 51-50, on a layin by Nick Mabbutt (Milton Keynes, UK) with 8:41 left, but never led by more than four points until the final 35 seconds.

Mabbutt finished with 10 points. Cole Olstad (Elgin, Minn.) had eight points and a team-high and new career-high 10 rebounds for Concordia.

Sergej Pucar grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for UAF, which also got 10 points from Zach Ngawaka.

Concordia shot just 40.7 percent (22-of-54) from the field, and UAF hit 35.8 percent (24-of-67) from the floor.

The Golden Bears went to the foul line 18 more times than the Nanooks, resulting in an 11-point advantage. Concordia also defended the arc well, limiting UAF to 25.0% (7-28) long range shooting while hitting 41.7% (5-12) on its own side.

Freshman Demitrius Martin (Minnetonka, Minn.) was a bright spot off the bench for Concordia with six rebounds and four steals in 15 minutes.

Concordia will remain on the road next weekend with a game at Minnesota State in Mankato, Minn. to open Northern Sun play against the Mavericks. The Golden Bears have won three straight against perennial league power MSU. The two teams will tip at 4 p.m. at Taylor Center next Saturday, December 1.