ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (15-8, 11-6 NSIC) used a strong second half defensive effort to pick up a 75-64 win over U-Mary (6-16, 4-14 NSIC) on Saturday evening at Gangelhoff Center. After the Marauders had a strong first half of shooting, Concordia stifled the visitors to 33.3 percent from the field (11-33) and from three-point range (4-12) to pull away.

Concordia wound up with a 6-2 record against the NSIC North Division and improves to 10-2 at home on the year while winning 10 of its last 13 games overall. The Golden Bears will travel to Mankato, Minn. to face Minnesota State (18-5, 13-4 NSIC) on Tuesday night with an 8 p.m. tip. The Golden Bears trail the Mavericks by two games in the standings and hold a game and a half game lead over Upper Iowa (10-8 NSIC) for third in the South Division.


CU Men's BB vs. University of Mary 2.8.2015 - Images by Justin Oakman

Concordia held a one point lead at the break with both teams providing efficient offense. The three-point shooting from U-Mary was the highlight as the Marauders hit 58.3 percent (7-12) while Concordia was 48.1 percent (13-27) from the field, 45.5 percent (5-11) from the arc and a perfect 7-7 from the foul line to hold a 38-37 lead.

In the second half, Concordia's offense remained consistent, shooting above 40 percent from the floor (41.4%, 12-29), 37.5 percent from three (3-8) and 76.9 percent (10-13) from the foul line while holding U-Mary to 33.3 percent from the field, from three and to just two foul shots (1-2).

Concordia also took care of the glass and the paint with a 39-31 rebounding margin, 13-11 on the offensive glass leading to a 19-11 edge in second chance scoring and 30-24 in the paint.

Nuni Omot led Concordia with 16 points including 10-11 free throw shooting and seven rebounds (four offensive). Cole Olstad added 14 points and 3-6 three-point shooting, four rebounds and three blocked shots with two steals. Josh Monroy was Concordia's third player in double-figures with 10 points for the second straight night, converting 5-8 from the field in 13 minutes with three blocked shots.

The Marauders were led by reserve big man Jaycob Velasco with 19 points including 5-10 three-point shooting while fellow reserve Damonta Henry scored 16 points on 4-6 three-point shooting. The pair scored 11 points each in the first half before quieting down in the second.

The game featured six ties and four lead changes, all coming in the first half with the largest lead of the period being a six point edge for Concordia in the game's opening minutes.

In the second half, Concordia methodically opened up the slim halftime lead, using a 12-3 spurt to take a 10-point edge with 13:12 remaining. The lead extended to 12 on two different occasions between the nine and 10 minute marks and stayed at least seven points the rest of the night.

All five Golden Bear starters scored at least eight points while Jon Sobaski led the bench with eight points. The Marauder bench was able to outscore Concordia's 43-20 on the night, though.