ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (8-9, 3-8 NSIC) set a program record with 19 three-pointers made as they cruised to a 107-91 win over St. Cloud State (12-5, 7-4 NSIC) on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center.
 
Nearly every major single-game offensive record at Concordia was challenged in what was a stunning night for the Golden Bears. The 19 threes surpassed the previous top mark of 17 set back on Dec. 16, 2006 against UW-River Falls while their incredible 67.9% (19-28) from deep was second-best behind just the 73.9% (17-23) they hit against UWRF. CSP also put up their best overall field goal percentage as a team in nearly five years as their mark of 64.4% (38-59) was fourth-best in Concordia history. The team's 107 points were also the most in a conference game since scoring 109 in a 109-104 double overtime win over Southwest Minnesota State on Feb. 13, 2010.
 
It wasn't just team records that were in jeopardy on the night as Bryndan Matthews became the first Golden Bear in the DII era to record a triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in 30 minutes of work. Matthews connected on 9-13 from the floor and hit his lone attempt from three.
 
Matthews was one of seven CSP players to hit a three-pointer on the night as five of the seven hit at least two. Isaiah McKay knocked down 4-6 from beyond the arc and 8-12 from the field to pace the team with 26 points while he also dished out five assists and grabbed three boards. Hayden Baughman did one better from three as he was nearly perfect with five threes on six attempts to score 15 points while also collecting four rebounds and four assists off the bench. Elliot Kane and Noah Kannegiesser both hit three three-pointers as well while Max Keefe hit two. Rounding out the group was Cody Carlson, who hit his only attempt from deep and finished the win with 19 points and four rebounds in another impressive showing.
 
St. Cloud State matched the Golden Bears from deep throughout the first half but were unable to keep pace after the break. They finished the game with 15 threes of their own on 31 attempts (48.4%) while hitting 47.8% (33-69) overall from the floor.
 
On a night where it was CSP that stole the show from beyond the arc, SCSU's Brindley Theisen delivered the top shooting performance from either team as he connected on a staggering 9-11 from deep to lead all players with 27 points. Sean Smith added 21 points while Gage Davis had 19.
 
From the tip, the two teams combined to connect on the first five shots of the night over the first five possessions before SCSU started to pull away. With the St. Cloud State lead at 8-6 less than two minutes in, they added to their edge with eight of the next 10 to double up CSP at 16-8. The Golden Bears continued to keep it in that range until the 21-15 mark when Davis and Theisen hit back-to-back threes to push it to their largest lead of the half at a dozen with 13:04 to go. After some more back and forth, SCSU had the lead back in double figures at 34-24 on a huge Sean Smith dunk just past the midway point of the half as they looked to be in control.
 
It was an incredible first half offensively on both ends of the floor as the Huskies drained 8-15 (53.3%) from beyond the arc while the Golden Bears were even better at 10-14 (71.4%) from three-point range.
 
Following the dunk from Smith, Cody Carlson answered with a monster dunk of his own as he drew the contact to set up the three-point play and turn the momentum in Concordia's favor. The dunk kicked off a 13-5 run over five minutes that trimmed the gap to two as the Golden Bears put themselves within striking distance. St. Cloud State continued to maintain a small lead over the next few minutes before CSP strung together five straight points to take the lead 46-45 with just over a minute to go in the half. The lead changed hands four more times before the break as Baughman drilled a three before the buzzer to put the Golden Bears in front 51-49.
 
Concordia's momentum carried over into the second half as they scored the first eight points to extend the run to 11-0 and push their lead to double digits at 59-49. From there, Concordia had an answer for everything SCSU threw at them as they kept the lead at seven or above for much of the rest of the half. The Huskies had it within seven at 73-66 with 13:50 left on the clock, but CSP responded with a 12-6 burst to extend it to 13 at 85-72. The Golden Bear lead would not shrink below double figures the rest of the night as it grew to as many as 22 at 107-85 down the stretch before finishing it off at 107-91.
 
Concordia closes out their stretch of four straight games at home tomorrow night with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against Minnesota Duluth.