CROOKSTON, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears men's basketball team (4-14, 2-10 NSIC) scored 51 points in the second half to pull away for an 84-68 win at Minnesota Crookston (1-17, 0-12 NSIC) on Saturday night.
 
The Golden Bears scored 50+ points in a half for the third time this season as they poured in 50 in the second half of the season opener against Newman and 50 again in the second half against St. Cloud State last Saturday. CSP connected on 56.7% (17-30) from the floor and 81.3% (13-16) from the free throw line to turn a 33-33 halftime tie into a 16-point victory.
 
Concordia improved to 26-9 in the all-time series and 13-5 in Crookston with the victory.
 
For the night, the Golden Bears were the far more efficient offensive unit as they finished at 50.0% (30-60) shooting and 45.8% (11-24) from beyond the arc while holding UMC to 41.4% (24-58) and 25.0% (6-23), respectively. CSP added a 38-28 edge in the rebounding column, including a 7-4 edge on the offensive glass, in the win. The Golden Bears added a 14-10 advantage in fastbreak points and a 17-13 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Concordia's leading duo once again paced the squad as they combined for 41 points and 22 rebounds as both registered double-doubles in the win. Antwan Kimmons led the way offensively with 21 points on 6-9 shooting and 8-9 from the line to go along with 10 boards while Marcus Skeete led the was on the glass with 12 rebounds as well as 20 points as he hit 7-13 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from deep. Kimmons made it five in a row with 20+ points while Skeete registered his third double-double on the year.
 
The bench bigs played a key role in the victory as well with Jared Perry filling the box score with 12 points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes while John Grigsby hit double figures for the third time in four games with 12 points on 5-8 from the floor and 3-6 from three-point range. Jacob Everson made it five Golden Bears in double digits scoring with 10 points to go along with three assists and three boards.
 
The Golden Eagles had four players of their own in double figures as Blaize Sagna and Rambo Badyal each contributed 15 points in the loss.
 
The game's opening half proved to be a back-and-forth affair with seven lead changes over the first 14 minutes with the only lead larger than one possession coming at 17-13 in favor of CSP. The momentum shifted from there as Minnesota Crookston scored eight of the next 10 points to regain the lead at 21-19 with 7:10 left in the half. It would be a short-lived lead, however, as Skeete and Grigsby hit a pair of threes each over the next four minutes to give the Golden Bears their largest lead of the half at 31-23. UMC responded with the final eight points of the half a minute later to even it up at 33-33 at the break.
 
Concordia completely took over to start the second half as they scored 14 of the first 15 points, including 11 in a row, as a part of a larger 19-4 run to balloon the lead all the way out to 52-37 with 13:17 to play. The Golden Eagles managed to close the gap to 10 at 56-46 before pulling to within six at 70-64 with 4:27 to go before the Golden Bears put it out of reach. CSP rattled off 10 straight points to spark a 14-2 run to build their largest lead of the contest at 18 before a late UMC layup brought it to the final margin of 84-68.
 
CSP will look to build off their momentum next weekend as they travel to #25 MSU Moorhead on Friday and Northern State on Saturday.