ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (6-5, 2-3 NSIC) shot 75 percent (18-24) in the first half to build a 12-point lead and shot 67.4 percent (31-46) for the game to upset #10 Minnesota State (9-2, 4-1 NSIC) 75-73 on Saturday evening at Gangelhoff Center. Redshirt freshman Nuni Omot was perfect in eight attempts from the field including one three-pointer and four dunks for a game-high 19 points.

Concordia's four post players, Omot, Mike Yahnke along with Josh Monroy and Shea Mandli off the bench combined to shoot 15-15 from the field for 33 points as Concordia outscored the Mavericks 34-24 in the paint on the night.

The Golden Bears snapped a three game losing streak tonight while improving to 5-1 at Gangelhoff Center as Minnesota State's nine game winning streak came to a close. Concordia continues its three game homestand after the Near Year, hosting Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State on January 2 and 3 in its first contests against the North Division this season.

The Golden Bears couldn't miss from anywhere, aside from punishing the Mavericks by a 10-point margin in the lane, Concordia also made MSU pay from the arc by hitting 77.8 percent (7-9) and capitalized at the foul line at 85.7 percent (6-7). MSU countered with a strong shooting effort from the outside, burying 13 three-pointers at a 41.9 percent rate (13-31) but were just 44.4 percent (12-27) from inside the arc and 66.7 percent (10-15) from the stripe.

Concordia led for 33:28 of the 40 minutes of play, while MSU led for just over five total minutes (1:28 tied). The game was close early with six lead changes and two ties in the first 12 minutes of play. MSU held the early advantage out of the gate, 11-6 just over three minutes in.

But Concordia's aggressive play inside put one of the top players in the Northern Sun, 6-foot 9-inch, 250 pound forward Assem Marei in a compromising position. The Mavericks went to Marei on offense, with Omot drawing a charge three and a half minutes into the game. On Concordia's next possession, Omot drew a foul attacking the basket to get to the foul line. The result put Marei and his 17.5 point, 8.0 rebound average on the bench for the duration of the half with just two points and four minutes of play.

The game remained tight until the Golden Bears caught fire with 8:16 to play in the half as junior Cole Olstad became the first of four Concordia players to bury a three-pointer on consecutive possessions with Jon Sobaski, Terez VanPelt and Omot all knocking one down to mount a 30-22 lead with just over six minutes to play until the break. VanPelt finished with 16 points on 6-12 shooting, adding six assists and a pair of steals.

The momentum continued as Concordia also scored on the next five possessions capped by another Sobaski three-pointer for a 41-27 lead. Overall, it was a 23-8 run covering five and a half minutes of play and the Golden Bears led for nearly the rest of the night.

At the break, Concordia still held a 12-point advantage, shooting 75.0 percent (18-24) while holding the Mavericks to 35.5 percent (11-31) shooting.

In the second half, Concordia allowed the Mavericks to whittle the lead back to single digits as MSU point guard Zach Monaghan picked up a steal and found teammate TJ Lake for a three-pointer to cut it to 46-37 a minute and a half in.

Concordia regained the momentum again, though with an 8-0 spurt sparked by four points each from Omot and VanPelt for a commanding 56-39 lead with 16:31 left in the game.

The 17 point advantage was Concordia's largest lead of the game and they carried it to under the 14 minute mark at 60-43 off a fastbreak dunk by Omot following a steal and long outlet pass for the assist.

From there, MSU began to chip away at the lead, getting it down to 12 with 11:25 to play and into single digits at eight (66-58) with under eight minutes left.

Olstad countered with a three-pointer to push it back to double-digits and finished the night with 12 points on 4-5 shooting, adding five rebounds and four assists.

That's when MSU made it's biggest run and threatened to steal the game. A dunk by Marei with 6:58 left started a 12-0 run capped by a Monaghan three-pointer at 2:55 to give MSU its first lead (70-69) since it was 19-18 with 8:26 to play in the first half.

VanPelt quickly responded, hitting a pull-up jumper off the glass from just inside the arc to put Concordia back in front. Marei would miss the front end of a 1-and-1 for MSU on the other end, and Shea Mandli found Omot for a two handed slam to extend the lead back to three with two minutes remaining.

From there, neither team was able to score down the stretch as Concordia held MSU to 1-5 shooting with two turnovers in the last two minutes. A pair of Olstad free throws with 13 seconds to play extended the lead to five before Monaghan buried a three-pointer with less than a second left.

After the 75 percent first half shooting, Concordia cooled only slightly, still hitting at 59.1 percent in the second half to finish at 67.4 percent for the night, the second highest known single game shooting effort for the program. MSU picked up its shooting in the second half, hitting 51.9 percent from the floor.

After the two point first half, Marei went on to finish the game with 18 points to lead MSU as he converted 7-10 from the field and added seven rebounds and three blocks while playing 24 total minutes, his season average. Concordia was able to keep Monaghan just under control despite scoring 13 points and dishing out 12 assists. The Golden Bears held him to 4-13 shooting from the field and 3-10 from three-point range. Connor Miller added 16 points for the Mavericks.

Concordia's bench was led by Jon Sobaski's eight points in 23 minutes as he knocked down a pair of three-pointers in three attempts.  Josh Monroy didn't compete in the first half but provided 10 quality minutes inside and made all three of his shot attempts including a two handed slam in the lane.

The Golden Bears hot shooting night helped offset a major Maverick advantage in turnovers as MSU forced 17 and only committed 10 which led to a 25-13 scoring margin off turnovers.